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Super Duper Luca!

Luca Arpin raised money to adopt a cat by doing an unpopular job!

A group of dogs look at a boy who is holding a plastic bag and thinking about a cat.

© happydesign/stock.adobe.com; Illustration composite Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

When 6-year-old Luca Arpin of Rhode Island saw a tiny kitten at his local animal shelter, he wanted to take her home. But it costs money to adopt a pet. So Luca decided to start a business picking up dog poop in people’s yards. He calls himself “Poopa Scoopa Luca.”

While some people would find this job unpleasant, Luca doesn’t mind it. In fact, he loves caring for animals, whatever it takes. Luca’s mom works at the animal shelter, and he’s been volunteering there for a while. He and his mom have also fostered many dogs and cats before finding homes for them.

“[Luca] is the first person to walk into the [shelter] building,” his mom, Robbyn Bouchard, told NBC 10. “He’ll start folding laundry. He’ll sweep and mop the floors. He’ll tell everybody, ‘I love my job. I love coming to work every day.’”

But as a volunteer, Luca does not get paid. If he wanted to adopt his favorite shelter kitten, he needed to find a way to make money.

“We had a conversation about some of the things he could possibly do to raise money,” Bouchard explained. “And I asked him, ‘What are you good at?’”

Since Luca is good at cleaning, he decided to start scooping poop at neighbors’ homes. Luca charges $15 for one dog and $20 for more than one. His mom goes with him, and they take precautions to make sure his hands stay clean.

Luca has been able to pay to adopt the kitten, which he named Pebble. He hasn’t shut down his business, however. He hopes to earn more money, which he’ll use to help additional animals!

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Did You Know?

We often think of pigs as messy. But pigs are among the world’s cleanest animals. They keep their “bathrooms” well away from where they eat!

A girl kneels on a pile of hay in a farm structure and pets a piglet.

© FluxFactory—E+/Getty Images

Introducing the Poopcopter!

A view of the top of a drone and two views of the underside showing paddles opened and closed.

Caleb Olson

Three views of the Poopcopter. The bottom two photos show how the drone opens its leaves to pick up poop.

Caleb Olson of Minnesota loves his dog, a corgi named Twinkie. But he doesn’t love picking up Twinkie’s messes. That’s why Olson invented the Poopcopter, a drone (a vehicle without a pilot) that’s designed to find and pick up dog poop!

The Poopcopter uses a camera and artificial intelligence to find dog poop in a yard. Once the machine locates its target, it uses leaf-like paddles to scoop it up. The Poopcopter can then drop the poop into a bag or wherever the owner would prefer. 

Olson is still working on his invention, which isn’t yet as precise as he would like. Maybe picking up poop will someday be a thing of the past!

In the video below, Caleb Olson shows how the Poopcopter works.

Pick Your Favorite Animal!

Different animals flash on and off the screen.

© Hao Jiang—500px, Martin Anderson—500px, ntzolov—E+, Vicky_Chauhan—iStock, Saurabh Raj Sharan Photography—Moment, vladoskan—iStock, Andrew Haysom—iStock.com, Elenarts108—iStock, Fernando Sanchez De Castro—EyeEm, mirceax—iStock, Dantesattic—iStock, aureapterus—iStock, marcophotos—iStock/Getty Images, © Candyspics, Izanbar, Satakorn, Rudolf Ernst, Orlando Florin Rosu, Hotshotsworldwide/Dreamstime.com, © Erni, Tomas, warpaintcobra/stock.adobe.com, © Kristian Sekulic, Kristof Degreef/Shutterstock.com; Animation Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Do you love animals? Britannica makes it easy to learn about your favorite critters with its Animals at a Glance feature.

Check it out!

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Word of the Day

resolute

Part of speech:

adjective

Definition:

: very determined : having or showing a lot of determination

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