Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Factsheet

Pets and Petting Zoos
Tips for preventing infections

Can my pets make me sick? Pets are like family members in many Canadian households, but like all animals, they can carry dangerous organisms. You can come into contact with harmful bacteria, viruses or parasites when you play with and clean up after your pets and pet foods, and when you visit a petting zoo. Diseases called “zoonoses” can be passed from animals to humans or from humans to animals. Some zoonoses are very dangerous to humans including: infection with E. coli O157:H7 salmonellosis toxoplasmosis tuberculosis rabies These diseases can be especially dangerous for young children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems. If left untreated, they can even be deadly. How are zoonoses transmitted from animals to humans? Animals can transmit harmful organisms in several ways: scratches, bites and saliva feces and fecal dust coughs, sneezes or mucus If you get these harmful organisms on your hands, you could spread them to your face, mouth, eyes or your food. If you have touched an animal, their toys, their food and treats or cleaned up after them, wash your hands right away before touching anything else!

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Four ways to protect yourself and your family

1. Keep your pet healthy
• Take your pet to the vet regularly and have it checked for diseases.
• Keep your pet clean and its claws trimmed (if applicable).
• Beware of what your pet eats: garbage, raw meat and water from the toilet bowl can be dangerous.
• Keep away from wild animals: you and your pet can catch diseases from wild animals and their feces. (Don’t forget that squirrels and other rodents can be dangerous too.)
2. Watch out for animal waste
• Use waterproof, disposable gloves and wear a mask when cleaning cages, litter boxes, animal pens and fish tanks.
• Clean cages, boxes and pens daily. Put feces in a plastic bag then in the garbage.
• Never use pet feces for fertilizer or compost: it can carry dangerous organisms!

Did you know? Pregnant women should not be exposed to cat litter boxes since these might be contaminated with parasites harmful to the fetus. Cover your child’s sandbox since cats like to use sandboxes as litter boxes.

3. Keep clean
• After touching your pet and its toys, treats or food, wash your hands well with soap and warm water for 20 seconds. Do this before touching your face and before handling food.
• Keep pets away from food preparation, storage and dining areas.
4. Take care at petting zoos
• Handwashing is your best defence! After you touch, always wash your hands!

Safeguarding Canada’s Food Supply

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is the Government of Canada’s key science-based regulator for food safety,* animal health and plant protection. At the CFIA, the safety of Canada’s food supply is central to everything we do.
*in partnership with Health Canada

For more information on food safety, visit the CFIA Web site at www.inspection.gc.ca.

You can also find food safety information on the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education Web site at www.canfightbac.org.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Public Affairs
59 Camelot Drive
Ottawa, ON K1A 0Y9
1 800 442-2342

Cat. no.:
ISBN:
P0233E-05