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Agritourism Diversification: Petting Zoos on the Farm

Petting zoos are an attractive feature to some agritourism businesses. This article outlines three areas of consideration prior to opening a petting zoo to visitors.

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Updated:

September 11, 2023

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Goats and boy at a petting zoo. Photo: Bigstockphoto.com/scienceguy

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Some agritourism businesses may have an interest in having a petting zoo of common farm animals (sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, chickens, turkeys, alpacas, donkeys, etc.) as an attraction for visitors. Doing so offers visitors the opportunity to get up close and personal with animals they don’t typically interact with, as well as learn more about both the animals and farming practices. Hosting a petting zoo may benefit your agritourism business through increased visitor numbers, strengthen connections with visitors, and improve consumer agricultural awareness and appreciation. However, there are issues that need to be considered and planned for before setting up a petting zoo. These include liability, biosecurity, and animal welfare.

Your first step, though, should be to determine whether you need to apply for any animal welfare licenses and/or registrations from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). APHIS offers the Animal Care Licensing and Registration Assistant to assist in determining your license/registration needs. However, since this is a self-service tool that does not account for specific circumstances or types/breeds of animals, it is advisable to confirm the tool’s results by contacting USDA Animal Care office.

Risk Management

Operating a petting zoo entails inherent risks, such as the potential for animals inadvertently pushing or scratching visitors. These occurrences are anticipated in an environment where close interaction between people and animals takes place. In 2021, Pennsylvania enacted a new law that provides agritourism providers with certain protections against civil liability for injuries or damages sustained by participants. These protections typically apply to injuries resulting from inherent risks to the agritourism activity in question. However, this law has specific conditions and does not apply universally to all agritourism activities. You can find more information in the article Pennsylvania Agritourism Activity Protection Act 27 of 2021.

Petting zoos are well-suited to fall under the Agritourism Activity Protection Act when considering liability or immunity statutes. By displaying appropriate signage and obtaining signed waivers from visitors, your operation should qualify for lawsuit immunity under this act. However, it's important to note that this liability protection does not cover grossly negligent or criminal behavior on the part of the agritourism provider. For instance, intentional harm caused to a participant will not be protected under this act.

For petting zoos, two specific laws demand particular attention: The Animal Welfare Act and Pennsylvania's Animal Exhibition Sanitation law. The Animal Welfare Act applies to all animal-related activities, ensuring that all creatures under your care are treated humanely and ethically (see below). Pennsylvania's Animal Exhibition Sanitation law is another important regulation. It requires operators to raise public awareness about the risk of zoonotic diseases—illnesses transmissible from animals to humans. Additionally, this law mandates the provision of adequate hand-cleaning facilities conveniently located on the exhibition grounds. This requirement is often overlooked, so ensure you are well-prepared. However, if your petting zoo involves horses, you should also know about the Equine Activity Act. It's important to remember that this act does not apply to children.

Biosecurity

Biosecurity is another concern when allowing the public to interact with animals on the farm. The introduction of disease to your animals from an outside source could have devastating consequences for not only the animals but also for your business. Typically, in an agritourism petting zoo setting, you will not know whether visitors have been in contact with other farm animals before coming to your farm. Implementing appropriate biosecurity practices will aid in protecting your animals, visitors, and your business. Best practices for managing biosecurity include (Kerr):

Communicating rules with visitors
Displaying clear signage
Parking visitor vehicles away from animals
Insisting on clean footwear and clothing
Establishing controlled entry
Using gates
Requiring parental supervision
Providing handwashing stations

Animal Welfare

When the public interacts with animals at your farm, animal welfare needs to be prioritized. You will need to manage the number of people interacting with animals at any given time and oversee how they interact with the animals. You want to prevent animals from becoming stressed, allowing time and space for rest and eating/drinking. Also, adults and children without experience with farm animals may not understand proper and safe interactions. Consider the scenario where young children may want to “ride” animals such as pigs, goats, or sheep.

If your petting zoo is subject to Animal Welfare Act licenses and/or registrations, you will be under greater scrutiny through pre-licensing inspections and unannounced compliance inspections. It is also important to remember that any member of the public may submit a complaint, triggering an inspection.

The USDA APHIS website has numerous resources on animal welfare. Of particular interest for operators of petting zoos is a fact sheet on feeding of animals, a common petting zoo activity.

Strategies for Establishing a Successful Petting Zoo

Assess Risks.
While it may seem tedious, take adequate time to assess risks associated with liability, biosecurity, and animal welfare. Consider not only the potential addition of a petting zoo and the issues associated with that, but also the possible impacts a petting zoo will have on the other areas of your agritourism business.
Develop Clear Rules.
Determine how your petting zoo will operate and the expectations that you will require visitors to abide by—whether it be number of visitors with the animals at any one time or a requirement that visitors wear closed-toe shoes if in an animal enclosure. Individual farm characteristics will guide you when determining the best practices that you should implement.
Don't Be Afraid to Say 'No'.
If visitors attempt to violate the rules that you have established, you must be ready to clearly reinforce them. Most visitors will likely appreciate a polite reminder, however, for visitors who continue to disregard the established rules, you should be willing to ask them to leave. Protecting your animals and business is of greater importance than a disgruntled visitor.