Karen Fletcher wrote:

... Try a
search for "Doggie Dooley" on Google...


Having done so, I find
http://www.uniquedistributors.com/doggiedooley.html. For the benefit of
other newsgroup lurkers, this site describes a "Doggie Dooley Toilet"
which appears to me to be a container which you bury in the ground, into
which you place the pet waste. It is described as a pet septic system,
although the website includes the caveat "units may not function
properly when ground temperature reaches 40 degrees or less". I looked
at only one model, which had a height of 15 inches (or a depth of 15
inches when buried). Operation, as described, is (paraphrased): insert
waste, add water and "digester powder" and close up. The "digester
powder" is described as an all natural mix of bacteria and enzymes.
Probably similar to the stuff you can buy to speed up your compost pile,
although it is likely tailored to the C/N ratio of pet waste.

I wouldn't describe it as a septic system. It's more like a cesspool. It
has to drain (since you add water), so the solids are basically
composted and the liquid filters out into the soil. This explains why it
may not work at low temperatures (i.e. when the ground freezes). I
suspect that here in New England, where the soil sometimes freezes to a
depth of 2 feet, the system would be only seasonally useful.

What strikes me is that this is am unnecessary solution. Everyone who
has indoor plumbing has a way to dispose of pet waste that is better
than this one. For one thing, your toilet works in the winter (I should
hope). For another thing, your toilet doesn't contribute to groundwater
pollution, at least to the extent that your own septic system (or
municipal waste treatment plant) is working properly. The only real
disadvantage to using your toilet is that you have to carry the stuff
through the house. However, most pet owners have some sort of litter box
so the pet waste is in the house anyway.