For one local cop, the path to riches is paved with ... dog poo

It was back in 2011 when Armando Rosario lost his job as a Trenton police officer. He was part of the 105 layoffs that September day.

He was lucky, though. Only took the Lawrence resident a month or so to land another police job, this time up in Milltown in Middlesex County.

But the jolt of the layoff stuck with Rosario. The married father of two wondered what would happen if he got laid off again. And past that, he wondered what he would do after he retired from the grind of policing.

He decided he was going to find a backup plan.

He decided he was going to start his own business.

He decided he was going to pick up dog crap.

“Well, I like to call it ‘dog waste removal,’” Rosario said. “It sounds better than ‘pooper scooper.’”

And that’s how K9 Doodie Patrol was born.

“Some police officers do landscaping on the side, as that’s something that can be worked around a police schedule,” Rosario said. “But I knew I couldn’t do landscaping because of my allergies.”

So he started thinking of other avenues, realized he loved dogs, had dogs his whole life, did some research, and he figured he’d give it a try.

His wife, Jasmine, was not on board.

“Yeah, she wasn’t too happy about it,” he said. “She thought it was a little crazy.”

Well, four years later the only crazy people are folks like me who spend their precious time combing the backyard for doggie droppings.

“We have about 120 clients now,” Rosario said. “I have a full time employee.”

Starting a $12 a pop (poop?), the K9 Doodie Patrol can come to your backyard once a week and clean up your dog’s deuces. You know, Fido’s feces. Your pooch’s pinched loaves. Your canine’s code brown. (I can go on, but I’m confident you get the point.)

“For many people, having to do this is more than a chore,” Rosario said. “I have a couple of clients that are blind, a lot of elderly clients. It’s not about people being lazy; it’s about us helping people manage their time.”

Of course, when Rosario got started in the industry, he had to deal with a little bit of locker room hazing.

“Oh yeah, my fellow police officers got a big kick out of it,” he said. “But now they seen I’ve grown and they’re not laughing so much.”

Rosario, in fact, is looking to expand his business, things are going so good. There’s a lot of poop out there, as it turns out. Who knew?