A small but growing number of professionals work to make your little corner of the world a better-looking and better-smelling place. They can make your yard safer and healthier.

Sue Kerr carries Sadie, a 4-year-old Japanese Chin, and walks Casey, 8, in her West Mifflin neighborhood. A former social worker, she has started a new business -- Sit-N-Scoop. (Lake Fong, Post-Gazette)

Some have come under the banner of aPaws: Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists, and some advertise their services as "scoopers" or "poop scoopers."

"We do the dirty work!" says the Internet listing for Sit-N-Scoop Pet Care Services, owned by Sue Kerr of West Mifflin. It is currently the only local listing on the aPaws Internet site at http://www.apaws.org.

Kerr, an animal lover with multiple cats and dogs, began her business in February after being downsized from her social work job.

She has 12 "scoop" and eight pet-sitting clients. She makes repeated visits to the house to care for pets while owners are out of town. She also takes some dogs on daily walks while owners are at work and makes occasional pet taxi runs to groomers and veterinarians.

Her new career raises some eyebrows. "None of my family members will get in my car. Grandma calls my car the poop-mobile. I'm in the market for a van."

Kerr never uses those jaw-like "pooper scoopers" sold in pet stores. "They don't hold up under continuous use. I use a janitor's dust pan, a spade and I'm experimenting with a rake."

She deposits what she picks up into tight-lidded plastic containers which she dumps at landfills. She disinfects her tools and boots before traveling to her next stop. Failure to disinfect could spread parasites and viruses from yard to yard.

Prices vary among sitters and scoopers, but Kerr's start at $8 for regular weekly scooping visits to a one-dog yard plus $2 for each additional dog. She charges a minimum of $25 for the first-time end-of-winter visit where no one has picked up anything for months.

Kerr said most pet sitters charge $12 to $15 per house call and generally stop in two to four times per day, depending on a client's wishes. Dog walks start at $10 and go up depending on the walk's length and number of dogs.

Not content merely to walk dogs and pick up less-pleasurable by-products of dog ownership, Kerr uses one skill she acquired while earning two college degrees and working five years as a social worker.

"Networking is a big part of social work," she said. Much of her job involved contacting other agencies and social workers to get her own clients the help they needed. So, she networks now with other people who earn a living working with pets.

Kerr did an Internet search for local pet pros and invited them to a meeting. Five women answered the call and the Pittsburgh Pet Professionals was formed.

She is the only scooper in the group, which includes three pet sitters and walkers, a dog obedience trainer/behavior specialist and a natural dog food delivery service.

What do they hope to get out of this?

"Referrals are the best way of getting business," said Madeline Izenson of Mt. Lebanon.

She operates The Pet Pantry, delivering "premium all-natural pet food" to the doorsteps of her clients.

"I'm new to the business," said Colleen Amos, also of Mt. Lebanon. She started PAWZ Petsitting Services four months ago, after she was downsized out of her management job at PNC Bank.

"I was in banking for 20 years," said Amos, a cat owner. "I love animals and decided to try this, and things are starting to pick up."

She hopes to get advice and referrals from others in the group who tend to try to line up clients close to their homes.

Lisa A. Coyle, who operates Paws & Claws Sitting in Squirrel Hill and Shadyside injected an optimistic note into the meeting. In four years she has acquired 150 customers.

Debbie Marino's Suburban Pet Sitters Plus now specializes in cats and birds. She's been in the business for seven years.

Sara Schlesinger of Canonsburg handed out cards for her Sunshine Acres training business. She does obedience training and behavior modification and will make home visits. "I specialize in aggression problems," she told other pet pros.

The next meeting of Pittsburgh Pet Professionals will be at 6 p.m. Monday at Panera Bread in The Galleria, Mt. Lebanon.

Sue Kerr has a Web site, http://www.sitnscoop.com and can be reached at 412-469-9977. The number for Pawz Petsitting Services is 412-563-1829. Paws & Claws Sitting is 412-271-9151. Marino's Suburban Pet Sitters Plus is 412-673-8748. Sunshine Acres is 724-873-1867. The Pet Pantry is 412-531-3436.