Val's Pals Pet Sitting owner Valerie Moggio visits with a few of her clients.Val's Pals Pet Sitting owner Valerie Moggio's job has had her taking care of everything from dogs and cats to squirrels and chickens.
"It was not easy, but fun," she said of caring for the squirrels rescued by one of her customers.
Moggio does home visits for all types of pets aside from snakes, because she would rather not feed snakes live animals, she said.
She also keeps dogs at her home, an option many customers choose as opposed to a traditional kennel or personal in-home visits. Some dogs are not comfortable around a lot of other barking dogs or do not like to be kept in a kennel, said Moggio.
The dogs who stay at her house are kept in an air-conditioned garage with a dog door leading to a fenced-in area outside, and are free to wander in and out throughout the day, she said.
"Here, they are part of the family," Moggio said of her canine clients. "People are comfortable bringing their dogs here because they know their dogs are happy and they are not stressed to come here."
Moggio moved to Signal Mountain from Paris, France, eight years ago when she married her husband, a Signal Mountain resident. She was previously an engineer in France when she met her future husband while traveling in the Bahamas.
"I didn't know enough English to find a similar job here, and I was looking for an activity," said Moggio, who contacted fellow Signal Mountain pet sitter Ruth French of Tattletails Pet Sitters after reading a newspaper article about her.
She worked for French for several months before deciding to start her own pet-sitting business. She said her favorite part about her job is learning the personalities of all the animals she works with.
"My days are never the same," she added.
Val's Pals Pet Sitting is fully insured and bonded, said Moggio, who has one dog and three cats of her own.
She is currently caring for eight dogs out of her home, which she said is close to her limit of 10 dogs. When she is out on home visits, her mother and husband care for the dogs at home.
"They are never alone," said Moggio.