After dealing with some health issues with his own dog a little over two years ago, Paul Hollis decided an animal waste disposal service was a necessity for pet owners on the Island.

Currently, residents are asked to flush pet waste down the toilet or take it directly to the Tynes Bay drop-off and not put it in trash bags placed on the side of the street .

But that is where Mr. Hollis of Professional Animal Waste Service (PAWS) comes in.

"As part of my service, I collect waste from residential yards and take it to the Tynes Bay facility on Mondays and Fridays," he explains.

A five gallon bucket is left at the residents' premises with garbage bags and Mr. Hollis scoops the waste or collects the already-filled bag.

"For health reasons, for both pets and humans, it's important for residents to pick up their pet's waste from their yards. When my dog was getting worms way too often my vet explained that leaving the dog's waste in the yard could cause the constant problem with worms."

Since PAWS's operation commenced two and a half years ago, Mr. Hollis' residential clientele has grown from ten to 30.

"Most people don't realise they need this service until it's actually implemented," Mr. Hollis says.

While the residential side has seen a boom, Mr. Hollis is set to see the commercial division of PAWS expand with the implementation of "Dogi Pots" placed around the Botanical Gardens and the Arboretum. Mr. Hollis collects the waste from the biodegradable bags that pet owners can place in the pots.

Mr. Hollis was approached by the Parks Department after it received repeated calls from unhappy people who said they could not enjoy the park freely due to frequent dog droppings. Even Parks Department employees were not pleased with their work environment because of the same problem

But for pet owners who use the parks, it was a catch-22 as they had no specific place to dump their pet's waste while using the park.

"There were no means in place for pet owners to put their waste but we've now put all the measures in place to alleviate that problem," Mr. Hollis continues.

Over the last month regular park users would have noticed the introduction of the trash cans designed for animal waste. The pots are a collaborative effort by the Parks Department and were sponsored by several of the Island's dog clubs including Bermuda All-Breed Club, Dog Training Club of Bermuda, Bermuda Working Dog Group and Bermuda Kennel Club.

"We introduced one receptacle to the Botanical Gardens for a trial run and after it survived unscathed during Hurricane Fabian we knew this was what we wanted," Mr. Hollis says.

Since 11 pots have turned up at the Botanical Gardens (plus six more at the Arboretum), Mr. Hollis says the Parks Department has received less complaints.

"There have been nothing but positive comments since we introduced them," he says. "The volume of waste that I have collected has also increased."

As the system of Dogi Pots are on a contractual basis the Parks Department will be reviewing the progress and Mr. Hollis says if poop scooping legislation is eventually passed he will hopefully expand his business to all of the Island's parks and railway trails.

"In the long run we have to have more awareness among dog owners because the other alternative is that dogs will be banned from parks."