I have gone to the Mississippi State fair every single year as long as I can remember. I always absolutely love riding rides, eating all the delicious food, seeing the lights, and winning stuffed animals at the little booths. When I was younger, my absolute favorite part of the fair was going into the petting zoo to feed and pet the different types of animals that a younger girl does not see every day.

So, as I was there this past year, I decided to walk into the petting zoo after watching the pig race. When I walked in I immediately felt a sense of guilt. Guilt because these poor animals are locked up with way too many animals per pin. Guilt because the only food they probably receive during fair days is what we give them, and you can tell that by their bodies.

Before I even walked into the petting zoo, I saw many mini horses tied up to poles standing there waiting to be ridden by little kids for money. Who knows how long they stood there without any way of moving beside when they are being ridden. Same with the camels, they stand and wait all day for someone to hop on their backs. Honestly, it is ridiculous.

Once in the actual petting zoo, there were around 6-7 small animals per pin and 3-4 larger animals per pin. They were having to jump on top of one another to reach the food from people who wanted to feed them.

Overall, the petting zoos at the Mississippi state fair need to stop. These animals are suffering and look absolutely miserable. Petting zoos need to be stopped for the sake of these animals. Imagine if it was you tied to a pole being forced to stand on your feet for hours on end until somebody paid money to ride you.

There are multiple different ways you can stop these. The main one is to stop going. If nobody pays money to use these animals they will have no choice but to stop keeping these animals. Then, they can go to a home where they are actually cared for.