Saddle and Sirloin hosts petting zoo during annual ‘Kiddie Days’
Three and four-year-olds swarmed the NDSU campus last week to learn about animals.
The Saddle and Sirloin Club hosted the annual “Kiddie Days” in Sheppard Arena.
“Kiddie Days” is a week of fun for preschoolers, kindergarteners and day care kids from around the area to come and view a variety of animals and ask questions.
Courtney Hawbaker, a sophomore majoring in agriculture economics and animal range science, and Kacey Holm, a sophomore majoring in animal and range science, planned the event.
“Basically we set up a petting zoo for preschoolers,” Hawbaker said. “It is educational for them, and we allow them to ask any questions they want. The event has been going on for more than 10 years.”
The animals at the petting zoo belong to students, the veterinary technology program and to NDSU.
The animals featured were a dog, beef cow pair, dairy calf, an ewe and a lamb, pigs, a dairy cow, mini horse, donkey, goat, chickens and rabbits, Holm said.
The Saddle and Sirloin Club hosted the event as a philanthropy project.
“The members host the tours for the kids to educate them on the different types of animals,” Hawbaker said.
More than 150 schools from around North Dakota and Minnesota came to Sheppard Arena.
“It was crazy sometimes to have so many little kids running around and all talking at once,” Holm said.