Demand an End to the Cruel Animal Scramble, Now!

The Sarpy County Fair Commission is planning to hold its cruel animal scramble this year, as it has for many years in the past. The animal scramble is an event where baby animals (usually rabbits, chicks, and ducklings) who were raised by young 4-H members are released by the dozens into a fenced-in area. Fair-going children then chase the baby animals for "amusement" and can take home the ones they catch. The animals are then sent home where parents are unexpectedly forced to care for these newly acquired pets. While marketed as entertainment, many people find these events offensive and it is undoubtedly frightening and traumatic to the animals involved. Such events do not promote humane care and respect for animals.

The Nebraska Rescue Council and our collective organizations rescue and care for thousands of animals each year, but our primary mission is to prevent cruelty before it occurs. This is why we implore you to consider how these animals will be treated during and after this event. Many times rescuers have found these animals dumped on rural property with the expectation that they will be able to fend for themselves. The scramble is meant to be fun, but it is not fun for the animals. It's terrifying and confusing. The event itself is stressful enough on the animals – being separated from the humans who raised them (and to whom they're likely bonded), exposed to the sensory overload of the fair, and then pursued by strangers. Keep in mind these animals are prey animals and being chased triggers their fight or flight mechanisms – horrifying for the animals and dangerous for the children.

This event is also extremely inhumane because the animals are kept in cages or pens prior to the event with no access to food or water. Sometimes different sex animals are kept together and – in the case of rabbits – some of these animals might be going to their next destinations pregnant. Further, these small animals all have specialized housing and dietary needs that many people don't understand, certainly not children who are allowed to collect these animals as prizes on a whim. Additionally, many of these animals are then surrendered to shelters, abandoned to fend for themselves, or are left to die. Meanwhile, the Sarpy County Fair Commission plans for it all to happen again the next year.

This petition is a call to action urging the Commission to stop holding this inhumane animal scramble and to consider placement alternatives for these animals. Surely the Commission would be willing to work with local rescue groups to find safe homes for these pets instead of dumping them on fair goers. This is certainly not the way of the Nebraska 4-H program that touts good animal husbandry. Our group is prepared to assist 4-H members find loving homes for their animals in advance of the fair which will prevent families who do not wish to care for these pets from becoming unexpected pet owners.