Case Studies

The MultihogTestimonialsCity of Magdeburg

City of Magdeburg

Magdeburg is a large city in the centre of Germany with approximately 240,000 residents. There, they face an issue which is prevalent in almost every city and town in the world: dog fouling.

Having searched far and wide for a motorized solution to this issue, Magdeburg came across the Multihog CL 75 & CityVac combination. The CityVac attachment, developed by Multihog, is a rear hopper (collection container) with a suction hose attached which is positioned to the front of the machine for collection. Vacuum power allows the suction tube to collect dog mess as it travels along.

Andreas Stegemann, Operations Manager for the City, explains why they chose the Multihog.

“Previously, we had been using a hand-held, self-propelled vacuum machine to do this job, but the process was slow as we had to transport it between locations using a van and trailer. The machine also did not have an enclosed cabin for the operator, so bad weather made for a really unpleasant working environment. In 2020 we found ourselves facing increased dog-fouling (thanks to a rapid increase in dog ownership), and we realised that the manual collection method was simply no longer workable. We searched all over the market for a solution but kept hitting brick walls. Although it’s a big problem for towns and cities everywhere, it seems that there aren’t any solutions on the market. When we found the Multihog, we knew it would be perfect for the dog fouling problem, and it was delivered to us in June 2021. We purchased the compact model, so it can operate on sidewalks, cycle lanes, down tight alleyways and along narrow paths in our parks. This machine is used every single day of the year (except in snow), and the large suction nozzle makes collection very easy, which is great.”

What does the operator think of the new collection method? “Harriet Dittman is our Multihog operator and she is the sole operator (except for holiday cover). It doesn’t matter if it’s rain, wind or sunshine – she’s inside the cabin so she can work in comfort. She switches on the air conditioning in summer and the heating in the colder months. She finds it really simple to operate.”

Health and safety is a big priority for Magdeburg, and the Multihog ticks a lot of boxes for Andreas in this respect. “Obviously from a health and safety perspective it’s great, as the clean-up is no longer a heavy, manual operation, and it’s much faster too, which means that we can cover more area each day, delivering better service for the residents of our city.”

When asked about expanding the remit of the Multihog, given its versatility, Andreas is unsure. “It took us a long time to find this solution. So, I think for now we will keep it solely for servicing the dog-fouling problem. Maybe in the future we could look at adding a leaf collector attachment but collecting the dog mess keeps our Multihog quite busy as it is!”

One year later, how are things going? “Everything is pretty good. Both service and quality are very important to us, we get a lot of support from Multihog’s personnel on the ground in Germany. They are only a phone call away if we have any questions.”

  • City of Magdeburg
  • CL

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