Business and Blogging

Small Business Blogging Challenge #6: RoadKill Remover

by Liz Fuller on February 22nd, 2008

(www.businessandblogging.com) 

Warning: this post contains some disturbing information, especially for animal-lovers. 

This is the latest in our series of responses to the blog challenge from our readers. A few weeks ago, Laura and I challenged Business and Blogging readers to think of a business that couldn’t benefit from blogging. Personally, this is the toughest challenge I’ve had to do so far.

Previous challenges have been:

• A Gas Station
• An Illegal Business
• A Quarry
• An Independent Human Resources Professional
• An Independent Embalmer and A Funeral Home

This particular challenge was from Tris Hussey of Maple Leaf 2.0.

This post was tough both because of the research I had to do (yuck!!) but also because the roadkill removers I found were government divisions, not small businesses.  I’m going to go with the assumption that some small businesses sub-contract with local governments to provide these services and that they are not all government employees.  If anyone knows of examples, please let me know.

Obviously a roadkill remover service wouldn’t be blogging in order to get customers.  But there are other reasons for small businesses and services to blog:

• to improve their reputation 
• to educate and change behavior
• to attract employees

What I found in my research is that Roadkill Removers have a hard time getting and keeping employees.

1) It’s a dirty job (even more than I had realized).  Sometimes the animals have been there a while or have been run over more than once.

2) It’s dangerous.  Often times the animals are on busy highways. The workers can’t actually stop traffic to remove them.  Not only that - I found out that sometimes motorists find it amusing to aim their cars for the workers on the side of the road - and barely miss!!

3) It’s emotionally draining.  I found stories of workers who found animals that were fatally injured but not yet dead. 

4) It requires empathy and people skills.  I learned that many workers were called out to remove dogs and cats and found not only the animals but distraught pet-owners. They not only had to remove the animals but comfort the pet-owner as well.

5) It’s low-paying considering the physical and emotional challenge. (approx. $15 per hour or a per-deer carcass fee of $70)

So, I thought a blog could be used to help elevate the dignity of the service and make people more mindful.

Examples of blog posts:

• Courteous behavior when passing workers on the road
• How to report an injured or dead animal
• What to do if you hit a deer
• What to do if you hit a dog or other domestic animal
• How to avoid hitting animals
• Insurance coverage for hitting animals
• Animal first-aid
• Identifying rabid animals (i.e. raccoons, etc.)
• Laws about hitting deers  (i.e. can you remove it yourself?)
• Laws about when the govt. and when the property owner is responsible for removal
• Fencing for dogs
• Leashes for dogs
• Local Dog training programs
• Local Fireworks notices (for keeping dogs indoors)
• Local severe weather bulletins (for keeping dogs indoors)
• Lost/found bulletins for pets
• Articles from pet shelters
• Advice on keeping cats indoors
• Wildlife info - migration patterns, habits, interesting stories, etc.
• Stories about lost pets coming home, heroic pets, favorite pets, etc.
• Pictures of pets and wildlife submitted by readers

The purpose of this blog would be to build community, raise awareness and improve the interactions between Roadkill Removers and the public.  Lest you think I am too off-based with this approach, I’d like to point out a blog I recently found that bears some similarity.

The Transportation Security Administration is another government organization that has periodic challenges in dealing with the public and who also has trouble attracting and retaining employees. In January they started a blog that provides insight and information into airport security for airline passengers. 

Although there is very little similarity between the actual daily activities of the two professions - their blogs would have the similar goals of educating the public and increasing respect for the profession.

So, what do you think?  Is this a viable use for a blog? Did even reading this blog post give you more appreciation for the challenges of this profession? (I know that writing it did for me. )

photo credit: hyak82

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