Pet Waste Removal Business Equipment and Supplies for 2025

This article will explain all of the startup equipment i used when i began my pet waste removal business with as little as $60!

As well as two items that i bought that made my scooping appointment significantly easier!

All of the equipment that i’m going to suggest will be in the blog below so you can start your pet waste removal business today!

Disclaimer: Some of these links are affiliate links where I’ll earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

This guide will make two assumptions:

1. That you have a smartphone so you can manage your scooping appointments
2. You have a means of transportation.

You will need a vehicle to travel from one of your clients properties to the next. A truck or a minivan is not required! I actually have a mid-size SUV where i can store all of the pet waste that i pick up in the back of my trunk.

If you have a smaller vehicle or you don’t want to haul the waste inside your car you may want to consider adding a hitch to the back of your car so you can attach a trailer to it.

Adding a hitch to your car will significantly increase your startup cost for a pet waste removal service but this will allow you to separate all of your cleaning supplies and your waste removal outside of your car.

The first item you will need for your pet waste removal business is a self-contained vessel that will store all of the pet waste that you pick up.

I started with a two gallon Plastic Bucket with a Handle. This allowed me to walk around the yards of my clients to pick up whatever waste i found.

The bigger the bucket the more expensive it’s going to be. However this will help you save time during your scooping appointments because you won’t need to change plastic bags as often.

After a few months using the bucket i upgraded to a Debris Dust Pan with a Handle.

This allowed me to save even more time during my scooping appointments as i didn’t have to walk around the yard and then walk back to the bucket to deposit any of the waste!

With my dustpan i was able to just scoop it up and continue along the yard.

A decent sized plastic bucket will cost around $10-20 dollars, while a debris dustpan will cost a little bit more closer to $30.

As of the time of this blog there’s a sale on a debris dust pan for $17!

Next you will also need a means of scooping the waste off the ground.

If you’re going the bucket route you will want to grab yourself a Metal Pooper Scooper. I went through a variety of scoopers from plastic scoopers to that metal giant claw that looks like it came from the movie Toy Story.

I actually first started with a plastic scooper and i found that it was horrible!

When it came to scooping up dog poop in really dry environments the poop would get stuck on the grass and it would take multiple attempts before you can scoop the poop into your container.

You will want to have a plastic scooper eventually as it was very helpful whenever i needed to scoop a poop on concrete!

With the dustpan route, all you need is a rake that will allow you to scrape up the poop from the ground.

I found a really great pooper scooper with a rake, a spade and a tray for about $21 on Amazon!

The next two items on the list will be part of your reoccurring expenses.

You’re going to need 13 Gallon Plastic Bags so you can put inside of your bucket or your dustpan. This will allow you to safely discard any of the pet waste you collect during your appointments.

As a best practice, i typically collect all of the poop in one plastic bag and then when i’m done with my appointment i re-bag that in a second bag.

That way it’ll allow me to take care of any of my pet waste without making a mess on my client’s property or in my car.

This may also be a requirement at your local municipality. Make sure you review any requirements that your state may have when it comes to discarding pet waste.

Depending on how many plastic bags you buy at once it’ll cost you between $10-15 dollars.

You will also need to invest in a Bottle of Bleach so you can sanitize your equipment.

It will be extremely important to keep your equipment clean as you do not want to accidentally get any of your client’s pets sick because of cross contamination.

There are two methods i’ve seen pet waste removal businesses use to sanitize their equipment.

1. You can mix the bleach and water in a spray bottle and spray down your equipment in between scoops. With disinfectant wipes and paper towels you’ll wipe down your equipment before your next appointment. 
2. The second option is to have a large plastic container so you can store a bunch of water and bleach. At the end of the appointment you can soak all of your equipment in that plastic container and then wipe down all of the excess poop. 

This is a great suggestion for anyone with a truck or a van or someone who wants to add a trailer to the back of their car!

You can find a bottle of bleach on amazon for about $16.

These four items were my starter kit when i started my pet waste removal business but i definitely ended up buying more equipment while i slowly leveled up my business.

Once you’ve completed a couple appointments you will want to consider the following items to level up your scooping.

First you’ll want to invest in some Rubber Gloves and some Rubber Boots.

After a couple appointments you’ll quickly realize how often clients don’t really take care of their yards and it can get really mucky and disgusting when you’re walking around there.

 You also want to make sure that you’re not stepping in any poop with the shoes that you walk inside your house.

I found a three pack of rubber gloves for $7 and you’ll find that rubber boots will cost between $15-30 dollars depending on the quality and the size.

Next you’ll want to buy something that will protect your face and eyes from the sun.

While a baseball cap can work fine i actually prefer a wider brim straw hat! From personal experience, i found that the straw hat helped sweat drip off the hat and not on my face.

You would be surprised but i do not recommend sunglasses!

When you’re poop scooping you’ll find that sometimes some of the poop pebbles will be hidden because of weird shadowing of the grass. When you’re wearing sunglasses it’ll be harder to see those poos on the ground.

 The Straw Hat that i use myself cost me around $21.

The next item is something you’ll definitely want to upgrade if you live in a desert environment or during the hot summer days.

In these type of environments i 100% recommend investing in a Water Backpack!

There were times during this year where i had three to four scooping appointments and outside was at least 100 degrees.

Using a water backpack, i was able to handle the very hot conditions while scooping outside and keep myself hydrated.

During the entire appointment you can also use the water backpack to store any extra plastic bags or doggy treats in case a dog escapes.

The water backpack that i use cost me around $30.

These last two items are things i had never expected but they significantly improved the quality of life for my poop scooping appointments.

I’m at the point of my journey where i can have up to seven appointments for one afternoon.

It’s starting to get dark earlier so i invested in an LED Headlamp this will allow me to continue with my scooping appointments. Even if it gets darks I can use this instead of rescheduling the appointment for a different day!

This will also help you save money because you will drive less and save on gas.

A pack of two LED headlamps cost me around $12.

I will also highly encourage you to invest in some really good Bug Spray.

Surprise surprise! When you’re scooping there’s actually a lot of bugs and flies and mosquitoes all around you.

I can’t tell you how many days i come back with at least five or six mosquito bites on my legs and my arms.

You can find some really good bug spray for around $12 on amazon.

As a recap my pet waste removal business starter kit cost me around $62!

While leveling up my equipment has cost me around $180!

In my next blog i’m going to show you step by step everything you should do on your first scooping appointment!

And i’ll see you on the next scoop!

And as Always, Acknowledge The Now! Bye!