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VIRGINIA PRECINCT Cathy Benedict, President Malcolm Forbes once gave a commencement address in which he told the graduating seniors that the secret of success was to find something you love and do it. Forbes claimed that when people find something they love to do, then what they do for a living doesn’t feel like work and they end up doing it longer and harder than anyone. Such has been the career path of Cathy Benedict, owner of Geese Police of Virginia. An acknowledged animal lover and long-time advocate for the rights of wild and domesticated animals, Benedict was at a Frisbee competition in 1999 when a chance meeting planted a seed in her mind. Another competitor told Cathy he was using Border Collies to help drive geese off commercial properties in Pennsylvania. At that point Cathy’s entrepreneurial spirit took over and, with the help of a partner, formed a company called Geese B. Gone. She dedicated her company to the humane control of Canada geese herding them off commercial and industrial properties. Cathy’s business started to grow as developers, office parks and companies up and down the Dulles corridor caught wind of her service and began to contract for geese control. Every morning before their full-time jobs, on lunch breaks, or on their way home from work, Cathy and her partner would drive their dogs to the respective sites to herd geese. Soon they were having trouble keeping up with demand and found themselves taking on a number of full and part-time employees.  In April 2000, business was growing so rapidly that Cathy made a giant leap of faith. She bought her partner out. Then she gave up her career with a real estate management company, not to mention the steady paycheck and free housing it afforded her. She devoted herself 100% to Geese B. Gone and turned it into a successful and respected company. Later that year, in December, Cathy was exhibiting at a tradeshow when she met David C. Marcks, the owner and founder of a well-established company called “Geese Police”. The first words out of her mouth to Dave were, “Don't try to sell me a franchise.” Cathy said as she was proud of Geese B. Gone and didn’t want anyone telling her how to run her business. However, Cathy and Dave hit it off professionally and after talking to him she realized he had developed solutions to some of the many challenges and issues that had arisen in the course of her business. After some research on Dave’s company, Geese Police, she discovered that Geese Police was the first of its kind to utilize Border Collies. Cathy felt this was a remarkable breed of dog and was the key to her rapid growth and the asset that most separated her from other pest control services. Given his incredible knowledge and 15 years of experience, Cathy came to the realization that the benefits of partnering with Dave far outweighed her desire to remain an independent entity. In 2001, Geese Police of VA/MD was created as a franchise of Geese Police. Soon thereafter, Cathy bought a small farm in Frederick, Maryland, and two Border Collies from the Geese Police Academy, bringing her staff of four-legged workers to four. Cathy’s collection of dogs at that time included one of the original Border Collies that helped her launch her company, Tippy, and Cait, a gift from a well-known breeder, and the two additions from the Academy, Floss and Davey. Tippy has since passed away, but Cathy continues to honor her as the matriarch of the Geese Police of VA and still makes her a part of the company by including photos of her in all printed materials and on the Geese Police of VA web site. A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Cathy operates her business from her 2 acre farmette in Leesburg, VA. She is an NDART volunteer for the Humane Society of the United States in her spare time. What makes us unique We believe the reason we have grown so rapidly and have been such a success is because of the client-oriented focus of the company. Because Geese Police of VA goes the extra mile to make a difference for our clients, we are repaid tenfold by referrals and word of mouth in general. Did you know that all of our working dogs have been through a rigorous Geese Police Academy Training Program before coming to work for us? All of our dogs are pure-bred working Border Collies. Border Collies have a wolf-like glance called the "eye". This intense stare influences the flock into flight or movement.
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©Geese Police, Inc.® of Geese Police, Inc.® PO Box 656 Howell, New Jersey 07731 Phone: 732.938-9093 ◊ Fax: 732.938.9092 866-NO-GEESE (664-3373) E-Mail: headqtrs@geesepoliceinc.com GPI, LLC Franchise Administrator for Geese Police |
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