Petting zoo casualties and prevention

[fortyfeetunder]

I've been reading and mostly listening to the discourse surrounding petting zoos. And it is unfortunate to hear about the number of kids who have been stricken with kidney failure and other maladies from becoming infected.

Do you think petting zoos are getting a bad rap for what we know can be prevented for the most part by common sense hygiene? I know it is tough for little tykes to play with animals and not put their hands in their mouths.

I think parents have to be eternally vigilant with hygiene for young children, like carry wipers and or waterless hand cleaner like Purell (even a little bottle can fit a fanny pack), and make kids (and themselves) wash their hands when they contact animals, after using the toilet, and especially before handling food -- no exceptions.

[SoCalDem]

1. A goat bit my son and a goose chased my other son

petting zoos were not our "thing".. We always had MANY pets at home to pet :)

[MrsMatt]

2. E-coli infestation (via animals)

is almost absolutely preventable. I work for an organization that has to deal with such issues and I can give you a few tips:

WASH your hands with soap and warm water after touching animals in petting zoos and at fairs and be especially viligent when petting the baby animals (they have the highest incidence of harboring e-coli - their immune systems haven't learned to fight it as effectively as the adults). If you can't wash your hands, avail yourself of the hand sanitizing stations that are almost always provided.

Increasingly, the animals on display are tested on a regular basis for e-coli. Feel free to ask if they have a testing program in place) when visiting such a facility.

Don't bring food into an area where animals are housed (the "five second" rule does NOT apply here!).

The urbanization of our society contributes quite a bit to this problem - we've become so distanced from our agricultural and rural roots (and so "sanitized" - how many anti-bacterial products do you see on the store shelves) that we become suseceptible to these outbreaks. You will rarely (if ever) hear of farm kids coming down with e-coli - they've been exposed their whole lives.