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Standard Operating Procedure
Design and operation of a Farm Animal Petting Zoo
in support of University OutreachActivities
Date Approved ______
Frank Kooistra ______
Mike Maroney ______
SOP Farm Animal Petting Zoo
Human/Farm Animal Interaction-An Educational Opportunity
A smaller and smaller fraction of our society has had direct contact with farm animals. An appreciation for the characteristics of animals that provide our society with food, fiber and recreation is a worthy educational goal. While viewing animals from a distance in an urban zoo is an educational opportunity, a petting zoo provides for a closer contact with the animals of interest. A petting zoo presents the opportunity for individuals, in this case children, to hold small animals (chicks, rabbits) and pet larger ones (e.g. lambs, foals, and calves and also maybe their moms). This close association between children and farm animals comes with some risk, however, as these animals may shed pathogens. For example bacterium E. coli 0157:H7 has been shown to be the cause of severe sickness and even death in some people. Some individuals exposed to organisms from farm animals are not affected while others even without direct contact with the animals have required hospitalization with-in a few days. Thus, the aim of this SOP is to describe a facility layout and procedures that allows for close contact with farm animals and minimizes the health risks of the participants.
Background
In a current report (Anon., 2007) based on published reports evaluated by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians and published by the CDC the risk of serious illness or injury of children who have had direct contact with farm animals or areas contaminated by them is critically assessed. It was shown in the CDC publication that since 1991 ~ 50 human disease outbreaks have been reported when farm animals and urban families are involved with animals in a public setting. From the report, “The risk for infections is increased by certain human factors and behaviors, especially in children. These factors include lack of awareness of the risk for disease, inadequate hand washing, lack of close supervision, and hand-to-mouth activities (e.g. use of pacifiers, thumb-sucking, and eating) (57). Children are particularly attracted to animal venues and have increased risk for serious infections.”
Selection of a site for a Petting Zoo
The site should provide for protection from bad weather and be protected from mud, animal waste, and associated contamination. (If the site is the Stock Pavilion see Appendix A and ask for a copy of the Standard Operation Procedure for use of the Stock Pavilion to support University and Non-university functions).
Physical Layout of a Petting Zoo site
The physical siting of a petting zoo is challenging since it must provide for close access of children to animals and yet protect the children from a physical assault or fecal contamination. To promote the direct interaction of children with the display animals, selection of cages, pens, and animal attendants is critical. Pens must provide access and yet control animal movement. Attendants need to be able to “read” aberrant animal behavior to prevent negative experiences and lead the “guests” to a positive animal interactive experience.
The Petting Zoo needs to have traffic control such that individuals entering do not mix with those exiting. The site map for potential layouts of a Petting Zoo is shown below. The site map is taken from the July 6, 2007 CDC report listed in the references. Two plans are shown. The traffic flow pattern in both plans is intended to prevent mixing of entering and exiting guests. The plan provides for signs/posters on entry and exit and hand washing stations in the exit. Display animals are confined to a single area.
The entrance:
The entrance must be controlled by attendants who can provide information on appropriate child/animal interaction and child behavior. Parents should be instructed to explain to their children that the animals may “spook” if the children make loud or shrill noises and move unexpectedly and rapidly. Also parents should know that “animal moms” will protect their young so movements toward the baby animals should be slow and non-threatening. Parents should instruct their children that they must not eat or put their fingers into their mouth while in the zoo. Contamination of a child’s mouth with animal materials from a Petting Zoo site has been suggested as being responsible for the recent illnesses experienced by zoo visitors (Anon., 2007).
The exit:
The exit must be structured/controlled so that each individual on exit is required to wash their hands as directed by the posted information and attendants at the wash station (i.e. wet hands with running water, place soap in palms, rub together to make a lather, scrub hands vigorously for 20 seconds, rinse soap off hands, dry hands with disposable paper towel, not on clothing). The organization sponsoring the Petting Zoo should plan for constant monitoring (i.e. one or more attendants) of the adherence of the guests “hand washing technique” to that provided in the informational posters at the exit.
Selection of animals to be used in the Petting Zoo
In addressing the direct interaction of children with the animals in the zoo, selection of the animals to be used is critical. The animals used must be clean, healthy, and alert. They may be selected from the University of Wisconsin-Madison teaching or production herds or from individuals willing to provide animals not available from the University. It is intended that the animals selected for the zoo will represent a spectrum of the breeds used in production agriculture or for recreational use. Animal care technicians in consultation with the attending veterinarian will select University animals. Animals from private sources will be evaluated by a veterinarian prior to use in the petting zoo. Animals will be returned to their original site after use in the petting zoo.
References
Anonymous 2007. Compendium of measures to prevent disease associated with animals in public settings, 2007 CDC MMWR Recommendations and reports (July 6, 2007) 56(RR05):1-13.
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Appendix A
Department of Animal Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Request for use of the Stock Pavilion for an event
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- Initiating Group ______Date ______
- Individual initiating the request ______
- Phone #______e-mail address______
- Description of Event:______
- Event Dates: ______
1
- Fee:______
Individual Responsible for Agreement (print name) ______
Signature______Date______
Representative of the Department of Animal Sciences (print name) ______
Signature______Date______
Reviewed by Risk Management? Yes _____ No_____
Reviewer for Risk Management (print name) ______
Signature______Date______