Am I wrong? County Fair Animal Question

[gudrin]

Okay, we just had our evening at the fair last night. My two year old daughter LOVED seeing all the animals and was very excited about all of them. Of course, being the biggest event of the summer, many other people were there and all the 4H kids were there with all their animals and exhibits and all that. What bothered me was how many people would let their children just walk up to a strange animal and pet it. I really saw this in the horse barn where parents were lifting up their children to pet the horses. I lifted up my daughter to SEE the horses, but we stayed quiet and somewhat away from the pens so as to not stress them any more than needed.

My thought on it is that these are not animals that we know. We don't know their dispositions, and they are in a somewhat unfamiliar place with many unfamiliar people around. Why take the chance of something happening?

In other really cool news about the fair, I ran into my midwife and was talking to her in of all the places the poultry barn. I told her I had to catch up to my husband and daughter to show DH what breeds of chickens I'd like to get sometime in the future. My midwife told me she has chickens! Yay! And when I told her that I need to build a coop, etc. before getting chickens, she told me "Go to backyardchickens.com and check out their coop section! They have lots of ideas!"

Her face when I told her I was already a member was priceless. Yay! Another convert!

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

The fair will be held liable if someone gets hurt. Maybe bring that to their attention?

 

[sparkles2307]

I was standing back (I am allergic to horses) while my brother petted a horse at the fair when we were kids and instead of messing with him she reached all the way over and bit ME on the arm, arms that were snugly crossed and not moving at all, I was so mad, I refuse to let my kids go near the horses at the fair to this day.

 

[scarter]

I only had one problem with a family at our fair. They were coming towards us as we had our animal out and the 4 year old came running at us to pet our llama ahead of the parents. I held my hand out and said NOOOO! The Mom ran and grabbed the kid and yanked it in the other direction. It was just not respectful to an animal for someone to come running at it. My husband thought I was rude but I don't want to be liable for my animal running and kicking some kid or getting hurt myself when he was scared. For the most part people asked and I saw people all the time reaching in as our one really friendly llama would stick his nose out to be petted. I pet the animals at the fair. Most people welcome it. I think most people know if they take their animal to fair it's going to get touched. 4-H kids work with their animals before fair but you do have to be careful as you never know for sure. Animals are unpredictable sometimes. Just an experience from a fair exhibitor.

 

[Camelot Farms]

Lets face it...some people just dont have 'animal sense'. My DD's BFF (they are both 8) pets, touches and picks up any animal within reach and her mama NEVER says a thing. Even when I am there telling DD, "honey, we dont know that dog and he doesnt know us so lets not touch him". Mama replies...oh, she just LOVES animals and cant resist petting them...regarding a mangy looking stray that is wanderign down the street.

Okay. And arent you the mom who is supposed to be offering guidance and teaching her?

Anyways...no. I dont let my kids touch animals at the fair unless the animal owner is there and we have permission. And the owner is standing right there with the animal.

People!

 

[Whispering Winds]

This is odd this post came up, because when Channie and i went to the fair, the first thing I said to him was not to stick his fingers in the cages with the rabbits (chickens had already went home, dang it!!) and not to run up behind the cows. Horses have always been kept at the opposite end of the fairgrounds, so we didn't see any of them . . .people don't realize just what damage an animal can do when scared or petted a little too crazy. Good thing to bring to people's attention, because nine times out of ten, most people don't think about this.

 

[scarter]

I don't know why you would say People! We were showing our chickens and talking about how cute the sheep were in the next barn. This lady said she had sheep and when we asked which ones were hers she told us they were the ones that would beg us to pet them. She told us to go to a certain row and they would stick their heads out for us. Really? We just spend 4 days at our county fair and one at the county over and the owners have been really nice. I even let people lead our llamas around for pictures.

 

[19hhbelgian]

Oh boy... I would never let anybody lead my animals around - too much liability.

At the fair, or any type of animal exhibition, you have to expect people to pet them. Heck, we have people stop along the road at our farm all the time to pet and give everybody treats! The pen with the goats, alpacas, and minis is especially popular

I know my goats won't do anything, and my minis aren't so sure of anybody but me (they're all rescues), so they don't get right up to the fence. When we fixed the fence, we made it so that the kids could pet the goats! BUT we also have warning signs all around the farm, and if I'm outside when someone shows up, I will go over and talk to them, and try to educate them on the animals a little bit.

A lot of people just don't have "animal sense" - they simply don't know because they haven't been told/taught, or were never around animals. then you have the people that SHOULD know better, but do it anyway

 

[gudrin]

So I guess I'm not all that out there. That's good to know!

I wouldn't have any problem with my daughter petting the animals if the owners were around, but for the most part they weren't. And in the kiddie barn it's actually strongly discouraged! The kiddie barn is run by FFA instead of 4H though, if that makes a difference. They had signs up in there that these animals will bite, kick, spit, etc. I thought that was a good thing!

 

[sparkles2307]

Our county fair is held in a town of 350 people, so its pretty laid back and there arent many animals there to begin with. I let my kids pet the sheep IF the animal "asks" to be petted, but they know not to touch the pigs (DH's father raised meat pigs and I have been filled with horror stories of what they will do if they get a hold of a child), they know from our own farm not to get close to anythings hind-end for fear of kicking, and they know not to EVER try petting the horses end of story. Our own hrose was fine, my kids could stand between his front legs when they were babies and he loved them, but other horses you neve know. I dont let them touch rabbits cause MY rabbits always bit fingers that got stuck in their faces, and they only touch chickens that we know. My poor kids have more rules about hand sanitizer too (we taught them that if you touch a starnge animal you sanitize cause we are used to OUR animals germs but dont want other animals germs coming home with us). I know, I am weird. Poor kids...