Festivals

School, church, civic, and corporate events

Cathy's Critters has experience presenting petting zoos, pony rides, and special animal events for all kinds of functions. In the last year, we've brought the critters to easter egg hunts, nativity scenes, halloween parties, end-of-school-year celebrations, and even United Way "kiss the pig" fundraisers!

For large events, we usually recommend the Big Tex party with one or two ponies. The number of ponies we bring depends on how many hours we'll be at your event, and how many children are expected. More ponies means shorter lines, less waiting, and, if you are collecting tickets for a fundraiser, more funds raised. Which brings us to...

Fundraisers

If your festival is a fundraising event, we ask that you provide volunteers from your organization to collect tickets, get parental permission forms signed, or verify wristbands or handstamps. Our attendants are usually very busy distributing food, supervising the handling of the animals, and cleaning up the barnyard.

We don't have a regular policy limiting children returning for refills of food to feed the animals. However, to maintain a steady flow of traffic into and out of the enclosure, we recommend limiting each visitor to two cups of food, and requiring additional "tickets" for refills.

 

Grass vs Concrete

We prefer to set the petting zoo up on grass. If setting up on a parking lot or other paved surface is unavoidable, we'll bring shavings or straw and clean up after the event, but there will be an additional $25 charge for the time and materials needed for setup and cleanup.

Safety and Health Concerns

Cathy's Critters is committed to providing a safe and clean environment for introducing kids and their parents to farm and exotic animals. To that end, we have several policies and procedures in place that are important for any size event.

We set the enclosure up with separate gates marked ENTER and EXIT. Food for the animals is only distributed at the ENTER gate. The hand-washing station is only situated at the EXIT gate. This helps us remind your guests to sanitize their hands after visiting with the animals.

The attendants will continually be on the lookout for "potty". Farm animals are not house-trained, and so we make every effort to clean up after them. We'll have a rake, scooper, and cedar shavings to keep the area clean, however shoes are a must. Barefoot (or stocking-footed) children and adults will not be allowed into the zoo unless they are being carried by a shod parent during their visit. Children will not be allowed to play in the animals' drinking water.

Your active support and encouragement of these policies will guarantee a fun, safe, and clean environment for all, and a successful event.

Food and Water

Fresh water will always be available for all animals. This usually means a tall-side bucket for the larger animals and a shallow pan for the smaller animals and for the ducks to wade in. We attempt to keep these clean, but often children like to drop animal food into the water, making it brown and cloudy, and unpleasant for the animals and guests. We will gently correct children who do this. If they can not control this impulse after a couple corrections, they may be asked to leave the enclosure.

Pony Breaks

Ponies must be given the opportunity to take rest breaks when giving rides for longer than an hour. We'll take care of this by giving the ponies watering breaks for 5-10 minutes after each hour. If your event has 2 or more ponies, we'll stagger their breaks so we can always keep at least one ride open.

Kindness to Animals

A petting zoo should be fun for kids and their parents. It must also be safe and low-stress for the animals. Children who are old enough to know better and insist on chasing, kicking, pinching, hitting, throwing, screaming at, or in any way tormenting the animals, will have one or two chances to cool it, and will then be asked to leave if they choose not to obey the rules. The animals, other parents, and other children are usually visibly relieved when a "wild child" is removed from the mix. Our attendants (and our animals) are very patient and forgiving with kids that need a little help being gentle animals handlers, but meanness and bullying will not be tolerated.

 

Trailer Access

We need to be able to park within 200 ft of the setup site. Much closer is even better. Time needed to set up is directly related to the distance the attendants must carry several loads of equipment and animals. For aesthetic reasons, we're happy to park the trailer out of sight if your event requires it.

Marketing Presence

Cathy's Critters enjoys helping make your event a success. We also consider every public appearance an opportunity for marketing our business. We will always hang our company's banner on the fence and have our business cards available at the hand-washing station. We are not pushy and will not randomly solicit customers from your event, but if your organization objects to this visibility for any reason, please let us know before the event.