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Safety Around Pets & Animals
E. Coli: Beware of E. coli infections, which can be picked up from pets, strays, petting zoos and farm animals. E. coli infections can be spread through contaminated food or water, contact with animal waste or through person-to-person contact. All people who touch animals should avoid eating or drinking or touching their face while petting the animal, and should always wash their hands immediately afterward. Salmonella Danger With Reptiles: Most reptiles are infected with salmonella -- a risk so serious that experts recommend against any reptiles in a home with children younger than 5 years old. If you do own a reptile, avoid giving it free reign over your home. Areas such as bedrooms, bathtubs, sinks, counters, tables, or food-preparation areas should be completely off limits. Anyone playing with a reptile should avoid putting fingers anywhere on the face or in the mouth, and everyone should wash their hands with soap and hot water after handling a reptile or its equipment.
Cat litter: If you're pregnant, be alert to bacteria that can infect your cat's feces and harm your unborn child. Check with your veterinarian. There is a test that can be conducted on your cat to see if the cat's already infected. Note: If your cat is infected, you might want to find another home for it for the duration of your pregnancy. Your veterinarian will have other suggestions for keeping yourself safe. Also, be aware that bacteria can linger in the sand even after droppings have been cleaned out, so don't allow the cat in your child's sandbox. Keep the area covered to prevent your animal and neighborhood animals from using it. Also be wary of neighborhood sandboxes. Always make sure your child's hands are thoroughly cleaned after playing in sand or mulch.
Hanging name tags or other items around child's neck, or knotting a scarf around a child's neck: On outings to petting zoos, farms, circuses, fairs, playgrounds, and ranches, do not hang anything around a child's neck (make sure caregivers don't do this, either). Goats and other animals like to eat paper, material, and string, and they might end up choking the child. Name tags leave a child vulnerable to a dangerous stranger who now has the child's name. Additionally, scarves, heavy necklaces, or chains can get caught in machinery or hung up on a slide, leaving a child dangling. Avoid knotting a scarf around a child's neck in any circumstance, but especially when the child is playing with a pet or other large animal. Just crisscross the scarf around the neck, and tuck the ends inside the coat. Then, do not allow the child to play with the animal without adult supervision. Some children have been strangled when a dog wants to play tug of war with a child, and the child cannot free himself from a knotted scarf.
Other Safer Child Suggestions:
Teach your child these things:
A Few Thoughts About the Animals: This Web site is dedicated to the safety of the children, but we would be remiss if we didn't also discuss the safety of pets. We ask all families to be very careful about which animals they decide to take in, to learn how to care for their pets, and to make sure that the pet fits well with its new environment. It tugs hard on our heart to hear of poor animals who are discarded by their owners by the side of a country road, mistreated, abandoned in the woods, shot in the head, drowned in the toilet or neglected in a cemented back yard. Before you decide on a pet, ask yourself some questions:
Do not abandon your pet. Please don't assume that if you abandon your pet, someone else will care for it. Your pet is much more likely to starve to death, get hit by a car or be attacked by another animal. Even if someone finds your pet and wants to care for it, it might be so traumatized by being abandoned that it continually runs away. We've heard sad tales of pets that sit silently by the side of the road, waiting patiently for their owners to come back for them. Don't abandon or neglect your pet. If you find you can't care for it, be compassionate and take it to a shelter -- or take the time to find it a proper home. Some states have passed laws (such as California's S.B. 237) making abandonment of pets illegal.
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Safer Child, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with federal tax-exempt status. Please note: 1) External organizations listed herein do not necessarily endorse Safer Child positions, nor do we necessarily endorse theirs. We list them as a courtesy and aren't responsible for their accuracy, completeness or content. 2) We recommend you maintain a healthy skepticism when reviewing information on the Internet; it might appear to be reliable -- yet actually be false, misleading, incomplete, out-of-date and/or intentionally harmful. 3) There might be material on the Internet that you disagree with or find objectionable; preview all sites before viewing them with your child. 4) We are not responsible for external addresses/phone numbers changing without our knowledge. 5) The information and commentary on this site are not substitutes for professional advice from your doctor, lawyer, or mental health professional. 6) Requests for permission to republish, copy and/or distribute any material found on this Web site should be directed to Safer Child, Inc.
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