Petting Zoos Are Cruel And Dangerous
Friday, September 26, 2008
The 'Happiest Place on Earth'? It's not a petting zoo!
The family of a toddler is suing Disneyland, claiming their two-year-old daughter was mauled by a dog at the park's petting zoo last year. The suit alleges a German Shepard put on display at the Big Thunder Petting Zoo lunged at the girl when a park employee invited children to pet the dog.
Why a dog was one of the animals offered up for petting when a petting zoo usually is all about farm animals is anyone's guess. But it got us thinking about the safety of petting zoos in general.
Barnyard exhibits are known cause of bacterial infections. "In the past two years alone," warns PETA, "more than 60 people were infected with E. coli and more than 100 cases were suspected to have resulted from visits to petting zoos in Florida and North Carolina."
Beyond that, some moms think petting zoos are a bad idea in general. Says one mom, "Beyond the unsanitary aspect of petting zoos, I think they're cruel to animals. Keeping them in a small corralled area where curious kids harass them is just cruel. I try to discourage my toddler from participating."
But others disagree. "I let my kids go," says a mother of two. "How else are they going to see nature living in Los Angeles? My mom grew up on a farm. I want them to see farm animals."
If you do choose to let your child get in touch with their rural roots, there are basic precautions you can take when visiting a petty zoo or agricultural fair:
Why a dog was one of the animals offered up for petting when a petting zoo usually is all about farm animals is anyone's guess. But it got us thinking about the safety of petting zoos in general.
Barnyard exhibits are known cause of bacterial infections. "In the past two years alone," warns PETA, "more than 60 people were infected with E. coli and more than 100 cases were suspected to have resulted from visits to petting zoos in Florida and North Carolina."
Beyond that, some moms think petting zoos are a bad idea in general. Says one mom, "Beyond the unsanitary aspect of petting zoos, I think they're cruel to animals. Keeping them in a small corralled area where curious kids harass them is just cruel. I try to discourage my toddler from participating."
But others disagree. "I let my kids go," says a mother of two. "How else are they going to see nature living in Los Angeles? My mom grew up on a farm. I want them to see farm animals."
If you do choose to let your child get in touch with their rural roots, there are basic precautions you can take when visiting a petty zoo or agricultural fair:
- Wash hands. One of the simplest precautions parents can take is to be sure kids wash their hands with hot, soapy water after touching the animals or animal enclosures.
- Keep hands out of mouths. If a child is too young to understand this -- younger than six years old -- parents should accompany the child at all times while at the zoo.
- Keep food and animals separate. Stop to eat and drink before going to the petting zoo rather than doing so during or after. You don't want an animal lunging at a child's food.
- Bring a change of clothes. Clothes and shoes (particularly shoelaces) can become contaminated.
- Keep kids away from animal feces. E. coli and other dangerous organisms can be shed in animal poo.
- Ask about hygiene. Make sure the animals and the petting areas are clean and well-kept. If there are a lot of animal droppings in the petting area, or if the animals appear excessively dirty, it's best not to visit.
- Watch for symptoms. If your child does become ill soon after visiting a petting zoo or farm, call a doctor. Pay close attention to any possible signs of infection for a week or so after your trip.
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Email11 comments so far | Post a comment now >>
They are redoing our children’s area at the Oklahoma City Zoo so thank goodness the petting zoo has been closed down everytime we went this year. I don’t like my son to touch the animals. My friend went to the fair last week and she was feeding a llama and it spit in her hair. She said it was the worst smell ever. So gross!!!!
- ashley
semi-off topic. A few years back my nephew wanted to go a petting zoo so I googled “petting zoo”. OMG what came up was just wrong for a 4 year old. I have since added all safe controls on google. I’m ok with them - wear old shoes that can be kept outside and wash not just sanitize hands immediately following.
- mom22
I am taking my son to a petting zoo next week. This has really given me something to think about. I will be checking for how clean the petting zoo is. Thanks for this information.
- Jessica
I have always had mixed feelings about petting zoos. I have seen good petting zoos and bad ones over the years. I had considered my comments to this post a lot before I submitted it. The bad things about petting zoos is always the welfare of the animals, first and fore most. The other bad things though are the visitors. Most visitors grew up and live in the city. They have little to no experience with farm animals, which is what most petting zoos offer. That lack of experience only offers and creates a bad situation. These animals are not pets (cats and dogs), they are farm animals kept in a farm type enviroment. They do carry diseases, they are not house trained, and they will defend themselves if threatened or hurt. Parents do not understand these facts since they do not have experience with farm animals. So they let their kids run loose in the petting zoo, learning the hard way that these animals are not pets. The parents them blame the zoo if the child gets hurt by an animal. This is why pettings zoos are dangerous, lack of experience on part of the parent and lack of education on part of the zoo. Which brings up the people who run the petting zoo. They should take it upon themselves to education the parents and the kids more about animals before they let them go in with the animals. Parents and older kids should pay attention to the “dos” and “don’ts” and make sure they watch the little kids better. Petting Zoos can also be a wonderful place too. Kids who live in the city do not get to be around many animals. Looking at animals in the zoo, on video, or photos does not compare to getting to bottle feed a baby goat, touch the hair on a goat, the rough skin of a pig, or the soft fur of a rabbit. The experience is something they will remember as a happy moment in their childhood. As for the child mauled at Disney by a dog. Dogs can make great family pets, the keyword is “FAMILY”. Dogs are not animals to be around people strange to them all day long. Dogs are like most pack animals and a loving family is their “pack”. Who ever decided to put a dog in a petting zoo was an
- Sara
As a zoo volunteer for many years in the Children’s Zoo of Lincoln Park Zoo, I agree about keeping children away from the animals. Most children don’t know or want to follow instructions on how to properly pet the animals. My concern is for the pets. Not the children. Extreme measures are taken to keep the animals healthy and clean but once a child that has a cold or a virus pets that animal the germs are passed on to each child after that. Keep the younger children away until they know the proper respect for the pets and won’t be getting spit or snot on them.
- gs1340
Wow, this page should be called anal-retenitive mothers calling you. I’m reading a few of your articles and your all whacked, normaly I’d use logic but I’m pretty sure you’re all basket cases. (P.S. strangle your kids yet, I think they have condoms under their bed)
- james
I read as far as where you quoted PETA and then I was done. Why in the world would you use a TERRORIST organization that has a motive behind making the statistics as horrible as they possibly can be in your article? Could it be that you too have a motive behind writing this article? From now on, why don’t you try looking a little further and researching a bit more before quoting anyone or anything. You might just look like a “real” writer by doing so. BTW, get off the petting zoos. They are federally licensed by the USDA and have to adhere to strict rules and regulations. As for children getting sick, only the parents are to blame for that! When my daughter was little her hands were washed after petting ANY animal - even dogs and cats. It’s just common sense. How many times have you seen cats and dogs roll in feces? It’s a natural thing for them to do, but we humans think that somehow Morris and Spot are clean because they live in the house. If you really want to educate parents, do some research on reptiles. Turtles have been making kids sick for decades, yet parents still buy them and subject their children to very intense illness by doing so. Parents, when you have the chance, let your children get up close and personal to SAFE animals. Otherwise teach them to respect all other animals by keeping a safe distance. But most importantly, WATCH your children closely. Don’t put the safety of your child in the hands of the employee and teach them to ALWAYS wash their hands after petting any animal. It’s pretty simple and certainly doesn’t require using any stats from PETA.
- PG
Let’s see, maybe we should put our kids in plastic bubbles and never let them see anything beyond the sterile walls of our germ-free sanitary homes. COME ON! There is nothing wrong with petting zoos. This article is, for lack of a better term, stupid. The safety tips listed are common sense (if you actually need to be told to keep your children away from animal poop, you’ve got much bigger issues). I am very happy that my kids can see and touch animals up close, and if reasonable caution has been taken, then fine. Yes, it’s still an animal, so maybe it’s not a good idea to jab it’s eyes with a stick or shove your fingers in it’s mouth, but otherwise, I see no harm in letting my kids pet a llama or goat that has been farm raised and is used to humans. Also, DB wrote “If you really want to educate parents, do some research on reptiles. Turtles have been making kids sick for decades, yet parents still buy them and subject their children to very intense illness by doing so.” Not entirely true. What you refer to is salmonella. The truth is that salmonella is not a reptile disease, it’s a dirty disease. Salmonella can be found anywhere that unsanitary conditions are present, and the most common culprit is cold/undercooked chicken (think about that one next time you open your freezer!). Reptiles are often the subject of these type of stories and the media loves it because it’s a guaranteed attention getter. However, if you take away the bias and the “creepy crawly” factor and just look at the raw hard facts, the truth is that with common sense, reptiles are no more dangerous than any other animal.
- PMD
Hello all, I consider myself a fairly “normal” mom…we have a zoo pass and we used to frequent the petting zoo area. At the beginning of February, we went to the petting zoo and my 3-yr-old threw up that night. (Yes, we washed hands afterward.) We didn’t think anything of it. He threw up again 2 days later, and my other two children (5 and 1) have also been throwing up randomly since then. We are 2 whole months into random, middle-of-the-night vomiting, and my pediatrician is baffled. We’re (the doctor and myself…I’m a RN) almost positive that it has some connection with the petting zoo, but no tests have been conclusive yet. Next time we go to the zoo, I might very likely keep on walking past those goats. So, I just want to say, don’t knock on the the parents who seem psycho paranoid about petting zoos until your 3 kids have been throwing up for 2 months….Ya know what I mean?
- Katie
I would just like to see that not all petting zoos are bad. Just a few. I have worked at one for 6 years. Our animals are healthy clean and fun loving. We have a hand washing station right outside the area for the people to wash their hands. We have never had anyone get sick from petting our animals. So, please don’t make us all look bad, by judging a few. Thank you
- Jassette
Like the last respondent, I guess I’m coming from the other side of the fence. I grew up on a farm (400 acres) and still live on a small farm (40 acres) where we raise mini goats, sheep, horses, etc. We often have kids out to see the animals. It shocks me how many kids today never really interact with animals or the natural world. If our computer- & petroleum-dependent civilization ever hiccuped, what would these kids do? My 6 y.o. daughter can milk goats, gather eggs, and has seen me harvest both plants and animals for food. I’ve been thinking about opening a petting zoo when our daughter is older, simply to give “city kids” the opportunity to learn about animals and historical skills. But, honestly, 2 things are stopping me: lawsuits and lack of child discipline/parental responsibility. It kills me that it seems that petting zoo owners are almost expected to wash kids’ hands for them. I expect parents to MAKE SURE that their children wash their hands well after petting animals- that’s common safety. As for the argument that some parents didn’t grow up around animals and don’t know; well I didn’t grow up riding subways, but I know better than to let my child step in front of one. I think the media, advertising companies, ersonal injury lawyers and insurance companies have driven a lot of the paranoia about petting zoos and animals. Chlorox would have us believe that our kids need to grow up in a sterile environment like the boy-in-the-bubble. Personal injury lawyers encourage the “it’s someone else’s fault” mentality… convincing Americans that they are absolved of the need to take prudent care…or that every act-of-g*d is “someone’s” fault…even if we were hit by a meteorite..it must be SOMEONE’S fault. If Americans keep trying to legislate everying and sueing everyone for minor “accidents” then eventually our kids won’t have bikes or skateboards or water-parks or fair rides or be able to do ANYTHING because they MIGHT get hurt. I sincerely pity parents whose children have become ill after visiting zoos…. it DOES happen. But we parents need to ponder this: perhaps urban parents are doing kids MORE of a disservice by NOT exposing them to the natural world as they grow. (Not babies…I don’t allow babies in the goat pens.) Better immunity might also help protect our kids if they have to travel overseas,
- Shanna
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