Petting zoos are a common attraction at fairs, festivals and other events. It is hard to resist picking up a furry friend or letting the baby calf lick your fingers. This can be a risky practice however, when it comes to transmitting bacteria, viruses and disease.
Plan ahead and learn more on the best practices to keep you and your visitors safe and healthy
Olmsted County’s new video promotes Petting Zoo Set-up Safety to help petting zoo organizers and staff better prepare a safe, educational and fun petting zoo for the public. Petting Zoo Setup Safety can help you design your event and petting zoo to avoid transmission of disease. The video highlights best practices for animal contact venues based on concepts presented in the Safer FACEs online training program. If you are planning on such an event, please take a few minutes to review this video and visit the UMASH Agritourism web page for additional information on resources related to fairs, petting zoos or similar venues to make your event a successful, safe and healthy one.
Safer FACEs
Safer Farm Animal Contact Exhibits (Safer FACEs), is a free online training program for agritourism venues and is funded in part by UMASH. The web based training is at-your-own-pace and offers an opportunity for owners and staff of these operations to learn how to keep visitors safe from illnesses that can spread from animals to people.