# Animal Party help



## vickyP (Feb 27, 2008)

Hi all...does anyone know what sort of insurance etc I would need to set up my own animal party business?
I have a fair selection of animals with more coming, I spend a lot of time in my local school showing the animals and doing talks.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

vickyP said:


> Hi all...does anyone know what sort of insurance etc I would need to set up my own animal party business?
> I have a fair selection of animals with more coming, I spend a lot of time in my local school showing the animals and doing talks.
> Any help would be appreciated, thanks


Public liability insurance, CRB, and performing animals license......not to mention a shed load of time and extra cash for marketing to be able to compete with the hundreds of other businesses doing exactly the same thing


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## vickyP (Feb 27, 2008)

thanks


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

If you are taking animals into schools do you not already have insurance?


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

feorag said:


> If you are taking animals into schools do you not already have insurance?


That's a very good point!


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

As I understand it from having to buy Public Liability for my voluntary face painting, schools and local councils won't entertain anyone who doesn't have a 5 million PL Insurance policy.

Fortunately I haven't had to pay for a CRB cos I've been checked twice in my voluntary work, but again going into schools you are supposed to have had a CRB check too.


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## westie1 (Oct 28, 2009)

Schools I believe are happy with 2m but I would always take 5m on insurance for the little extra it costs. You also dont need a licence unless the council your working in says so. So speak to them.
All il say is if your doing it, look professional. There are huge amounts of weekend animal party people who are obviously after beer money and customers can tell. 

If your already in schools youl have a good idea anyway 
Good luck


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

westie1 said:


> All il say is if your doing it, look professional. There are huge amounts of weekend animal party people who are obviously after beer money and customers can tell.


This is good advice. I would strongly urge you to really be on top of your game if you are going to go for it, because mark my words, the whole industry is in for a big fall and I bet it'll happen sooner rather than later! 

You only need to look at the scandals surrounding the likes of Stephen Rowlands to see the kind of murky business it is. And as westie1 pointed out, there are plenty of chancers doing it on the sly.....only takes one such person to have an "accident" with a tarantula/scorpion (I've seen people allow kids to actually hold these!) or to put a snake around the neck of a child that has a pet rat, and it's curtains for the lot of yer once poor little Jack is featured in The Daily Fail after having been "viciously savaged" at his birthday!


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## LuiBlu (Aug 27, 2010)

We have public liability (including animals - not all Pli companies include animals so be vigilant), care, control and custody of animal cover, defra 2 for traveling with animals, Pet Taxi insurance, non negligence cover, business van (car if you don't have a van) insurance with goods in transit cover. As for crb? I assume that's the English version of a disclosure Scotland? If so we have that, they took a long time to come through. 
All in it cost us around £5000 to get started  hope that helps.


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## westie1 (Oct 28, 2009)

I hope its not in for a fall but......
as you say all it takes is a poor judgement call from a person doing an on the side party and all of us who do it properly will suffer.

having said that if your doing it right im sure you will stand to scrutiny. 

id look to see if there are some franchises available in your area, you get your hand held, you are also part of a larger body with possibly a good reputation (company dependant) and should have some credibility. but all that costs cash in fees.


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

Just to avoid confusion if you are going to go ahead... CRB checks are now called DBS checks.


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

westie1 said:


> I hope its not in for a fall but......
> as you say all it takes is a poor judgement call from a person doing an on the side party and all of us who do it properly will suffer.
> 
> having said that if your doing it right im sure you will stand to scrutiny.


Thing is, there is no training for something like this. So there's no accreditation for being able to handle animals correctly, and there's no preparing people for facing a class of rowdy kids or a party of sugar-hyped brats.....it's just a jump in the deep end and sink or swim type situation. 

As we've ascertained, there are hundreds of businesses like this, and even more parents just taking a few snakes in at teacher's request. There WILL be an accident at some point. And it WILL have grave effects on the rest of you. 

You say a quality business would stand to scrutiny....well, I'm not so sure. Teachers talk to each other and there are teacher publications in each staff room. They are also easily spooked in a blame culture society. 

It is gonna happen...I'm amazed it hasn't already.


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## westie1 (Oct 28, 2009)

I mean stand to scrutiny regards these with shocking husbandry ect. 
I have a franchise doing just this (I wont mention who as its not my place and prefer to keep my business and personal separate).
A good franchise "should" let you shaddow a presenter, give tips and monotor you until all persons involved are happy and confident. 
Does it prepare you for a mental child who thinks a bunnys spine is a toy, a class of terrified 4yr olds (hard work if they are!) Or a party consisting of 50 kids? No way lol.
But if you are confident, patient, professional and understand the limits of your abilities you cant go far wrong. I limit parties to 25 (through past issues) and always have a helper when im doing any events I canot *guarantee* my animals supervision such as outdoor events and basically anytime I dont have all the little ones firmly on their bums lol.
Parents can be worse at outdoor events tapping on boxes ! My OH is an employed hand slapper lol


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## westie1 (Oct 28, 2009)

I do think there should be some form of accreditation, I would like if nothing else to have a certificate lmao.
But I also think (im sure 99% would disagree) that some form of regulation or something should be placed on keeping reps. Or just something to stop long lived reps being sold for a fiver and bought on a whim. I as many others would jump through hoops to keep my animals.
Im sick of hearing.....
I had a *insert animal* but it died....there 5years old!!!!!!
Anyway I digress.


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

westie1 said:


> I do think there should be some form of accreditation, I would like if nothing else to have a certificate lmao.
> But I also think (im sure 99% would disagree) that some form of regulation or something should be placed on keeping reps. Or just something to stop long lived reps being sold for a fiver and bought on a whim. I as many others would jump through hoops to keep my animals.
> Im sick of hearing.....
> I had a *insert animal* but it died....there 5years old!!!!!!
> Anyway I digress.


Whilst this is true, I'm even more saddened by animal encounter companies buying exotic mammals, realising they aren't good for that kind of work, then flogging them to make space for another unsuitable exotic mammal.....and so the cycle continues. All too often, you see ads which say "is too nervous for my encounter business". :bash: Now I'm mostly sure that reptiles don't really care who keeps them, so long as their husbandry is bang on, but mammals are a very different matter.....they bond with their keeper, and make their enclosure their territory.


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## westie1 (Oct 28, 2009)

You speak the truth.
Iv heard of meercats nipping people in assembly and all sorts. Now if it was me I would have thought, should this not work out am I prepared to keep this animal for the rest of its life regardless of suitability of the business, if the answer is no I wont get it.
I happen to keep many animals who would never go to work and just as my passion (atb's ect).
You have to be truthfull and mature enough to see if your making a good judgment call or just adding to your species (ego) list.
I strongly recommend exotickeepersforum, i was on there last year looking at pd's and was kindly asked to visit someone in birmingham to get first hand account. We booked a hotel and off we went. Wow im so glad we did! Not for me, not without a suitable hands off zoo style enclosure for them and certainly not in schools, potential for injury is huge.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Shame everyone didn't think like that!


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## westie1 (Oct 28, 2009)

sorry im on my soap box abit here but its a subject I live and breath every day but rarely is brought up among us lol.
doing this job is sooooo important as I feel on a day to day basis animal entertainers (i prefer educators lol) are the "face" of exotic keepers interacting with people who with no prior knowledge may believe everything they read in the papers.
its our job to educate people on exotics and also the kind of people their keepers are. we arnt all listening to thrash metal eating bats and living in the 80's lmao many preconceptions believe we are.
I also spend much of my time putting people off keeping exotics, if they seem genuine I always leave them my email and ask them to contact me for any care sheets or help. also ask them to consider rescue from morley exotic rescue or reptillia up here as I have their contacts.
and btw this is the same for all fluffys too, rabbit rescue and cavie rescue are recommended. 

I think its quite a responsibility and anyone in this industry should aim to do the same.

rant over lol :whip:
nice to get it down on paper so to speak lmao
rfuk as therapy.....who'd have thought it


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I think education on keeping any pet is hugely important and getting to kids in the classroom/party room is where to start, to be honest.


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## PigeonYouDead (Aug 9, 2013)

What kind of animals are you taking in? There is a school of thought around reptiles that children under 5 shouldn't hold them because of salmonella risk, same goes for elderly / immunocompromised people.

A friend of mine has a skunk which was descented (illegal in uk) which was used for childrens parties... they has no license or knowledge of how to look after it and were subjecting it to "parties" almost daily so it was seized by the rspca and now he has it.

I have to say there is a company round here that offers childrens parties and the whole idea makes me very uncomfortable. They seem to have no limit on how many children they allow per party, and are quite happy to get out a fully grown iguana. Granted it may be puppy tame, but I'm not sure that 1 person can adequately supervise a large group of 6 years old and potentially dangerous lizard. They also have monitors which they get out???

On the flip side, when I was in nursery, before all the nazi health and safety regs came in, my nursery school teacher brought her burmese python in, got us all to sit in a circle and she put the snake on our laps while she held onto his head. I loved it, feeling a big warm, smooth chunk of reptile and I think it probably started off my fascination with reptiles.


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

PigeonYouDead said:


> What kind of animals are you taking in? There is a school of thought around reptiles that children under 5 shouldn't hold them because of salmonella risk, same goes for elderly / immunocompromised people.
> 
> *A friend of mine has a skunk which was descented (illegal in uk)* which was used for childrens parties... they has no license or knowledge of how to look after it and were subjecting it to "parties" almost daily so it was seized by the rspca and now he has it.
> 
> ...


It is not illegal to have a descented skunk in the UK. It is illegal to descent them in the UK (apart from on medical grounds), but there's nothing to stop people importing descented skunks. There are also a lot of skunks (like my own) that were descented before the law changed.

As you know so much about them, you'll know that many encounter companies use them (as did I for a long time), not just the one you're going on about. You'll surely also know that many skunks (like mine) are incredibly docile, and so long as the keeper knows their pet, it's behaviour and it's moods well, then theres no reason at all why it shouldn't be used in animal encounter shows!:bash:

As for your worries about salmonella etc....that is why any presenter worth their salt stresses the importance of hand washing and carries hand gel too! But of course you'd know that as you're quite the expert :whistling2:


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## BMo1979 (Feb 13, 2012)

Just when Westie and MrCriss mentioned weekend chancers:

A few years back, at my boys' old primary school, one of these animal encounters companies attended the school fayre. 
Not only did they let people hold a young 7-legged Chilean Rose more or less unattended (the girl put it on my hand and then walked away to talk to other people and I ended up coaxing it back into it's enclosure :gasp, they brought a mother rat with its litter and didn't secure the cage properly, so the pups kept trying to climb out the top. 
They also sold some of their rabbits to anyone who wanted one on the day, which I'm sure is not quite legal. I spoke to the school about it then, but I doubt anything was done (they didn't care).


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

To be honest I cringe when I look at animal encounter websites and see photographs of tarantulas crawling up children's faces :gasp: and sitting on their heads.


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