Safety Tips for Children with Animals

Video Transcript

"Hi. This is Patti Billings. I'm a certified pediatric nurse practitioner on behalf of expervillage.com. This clip is regarding the safety of children with animals. Children love animals and are very drawn to animals. And many child care centers and many homes have pets. Animals like dogs and cats can bite, scratch, and injure children, and children should be taught to approach them respectfully, and maybe not be allowed to interact freely with an animal without supervision, until they are older. A dog bite, a cat bite can be serious health risks for a child, as well as be disfiguring. Animals such as reptiles, like turtles and other reptiles, carry a variety of illnesses that are to keep away from children, primarily gastroenteritis type illnesses. And so, if animals are allowed, if reptiles are allowed in a child care setting or in a home, children should be taught that after they touch these animals, they should wash their hands. The person who is the child care provider should be washing their hands as well. And larger animals, like if you’re in a rural area where you have livestock, like cattle, or horses, or sheep: these are animals that certainly can cause a great deal of damage to children. And children should be taught how to approach them, how to interact with these animals in a safe way, before they’re allowed to interact without supervision. "