Career Advice & News Center

In times of economic distress it can be very easy to focus on the negative side of things. Yes, the unemployment rate at 10.2 percent is at its highest level in more than 15 years. Yes, as the months go by more and more employees are losing their jobs because of company cutbacks. But in a marketplace in which dog droppings can produce millions of dollars in revenue, the outlook for creative entrepreneurs may not be so bad.

DoodyCalls, a company established in Charlottesville, Virginia, was founded in 2005 by the married couple Jacob and Susan D'Aniello. Though its first customers were drawn in by $100 worth of photocopied fliers, the business is on track to earn about $3.2 million in 2009 alone, Forbes.com reports.

Not your typical service provider, DoodyCalls offers to clean up the yards of pet owners for $15 to $20 per week, depending on the size of the yard and the number of pets in the household. According to the news source, apartment communities have even offered to pay $75 an hour for the pet-waste service.

Though the company rose from exceptionally humble beginnings, the pooper-scooper specialists have grown their business to 49 locations in 22 states, with five more scheduled to open within the year.

Waste management is not the only pet care sector to offer job opportunities. A former stock broker, Dr Babette Gladstein makes house calls to pets to perform chiropractic massage, acupuncture and in vitro fertilization treatments to pay the bills.

She told the news provider, "As a stock broker, I was making money for money's sake. Now I love my work."

One hour-long acupuncture session with the veterinarian can cost pet owners $300.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reports that pet owners spend about $670 to $1,580 on their pets annually, contributing to about $45 billion spent nationally each year.