What to do with your doggie doo doo during spring melt

With the change in climate after a long snowy winter, people may see some unwanted items popping up throughout their backyards.

Whether it was from their own pet or someone else’s furry friend, Saskatoon’s Poo Crew has seen it all.

Poo Crew CEO — Chief Excrement Officer, as he called himself — Daniel Diment provided 650 CKOM with some tips in cleaning up after the family companions.

“I always suggest if you’re going to clean it up yourself, (use) a spaded shovel. Once all the snow, water and ice is gone, we pop on gloves and we get right down and dirty,” he explained.

“We always suggest that people don’t take the poop and put it in a pile because then you are looking at some poop soup. I’ve seen some pretty big lakes.”

Aside from the visual aspect of an unclean yard, there are other worries as well in not cleaning your area properly. Diment said viruses live in these areas, and they could be harmful to more than just your pet.

“Poop has germs in it. We’re currently dealing with coronavirus. Poop has a version of coronavirus, the parvovirus. These germs do change through the season, and they’re actually strong enough and hardy enough, the protein of that poop, to last through the winter,” he said. “We want to make sure you’re maintaining your yard as best as possible.”

Diment added a new worm was discovered in the last half-decade by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan that has spread. He explained it’s basically a tapeworm that can get on people’s skin, and specifically does damage to youths aged 12 and under. Diment said it could end up leading to visual problems for the children.

The City of Saskatoon also weighed in on the issue at hand, providing a prepared statement on how it hopes people to get their yards looking normal.

“Pet waste goes in a plastic bag and then straight into your black cart. DO NOT place pet waste into your blue or green carts,” a portion of the statement reads, with an additional website link to the City’s Waste Wizard page.

In terms of when people should get on the spring cleanup, Diment said the time is now.

“You always just want to get to it as quickly as possible. If in the event that things are getting really, really icy as the snow is melting right now or things are getting really, really slushy and it’s going to turn into poop soup, poop is 80 per cent water. So you want to get it maybe when it’s really frozen … or wait until it starts to reharden in the spring,” he added.

The Poo Crew offers services ranging from year-round weekly cleanings to cleanups once the ice and snow is gone, maintaining properties and additional disinfectant services.

Diment said the company’s services are easiest to access online, on the Poo Crew website. Their crews sanitize and take extra precautions to ensure pets and accompanying human companions stay safe.

“Crap happens, and we’re here to support,” said Diment.