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History of the Virginia School of Pet Grooming in Manassas, VA

Peter Perretta has been in the pet industry for over 45 years, starting with his high school job at a local animal hospital. Prior to being in the animal care business, Mr. Perretta was a regional manager for a national retail chain, where he supervised the operation of 40 stores. His success as the youngest regional manager in his corporation led him to other job opportunities. When offered a position in Virginia with a regional pet retailer, he could not refuse; a career in a field he was already knowledgeable of and getting back to his first love…working with animals. This experience exposed him to the grooming industry and he realized that it was a diamond in the rough. His concept of combining professional retail service with that of grooming services was unheard of at the time.

Stepping out on his own (in 1986), he created Yappie Cuttery and has been successful and profitable from the first. In the quest for higher quality, more professional groomers, he decided to apply for and received his certification to operate a proprietary trade school, now known nationally as the Virginia School of Pet Grooming.

His first location in Manassas grew through word of mouth due to the quality of the curriculum and the manner in which it was implemented. Within the first three years of operation, he had to relocate to a facility twice the size of the first. This allowed more tables for students and as the school and business expanded, he was enrolling students from Washington State, Texas, New York, North and South Carolina and other neighboring states.

Now, over 30 years later, our clientele has expanded to thirteen thousand and his building has been voted "Best Pet Care Facility in Northern Virginia" each year by the Washingtonian Magazine, Prince William County and Cities of Manassas and Manassas.We were also voted best Technical Trade School in Prince William County.