07/29/2026
😂
This popped up in my personal FB memories from 2 years ago
Skye and I still talk about that incident!
I am an EXTREMELY patient person but I 100% do not, under any circumstances, take the safety of my animals lightly!
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Long crazy story.
Today was a first for me at a public event (it happened 1x at a very small bday party last year so I handled it differently), I was hit by a kid while doing a session.
I was at a school and doing 4 presentations of 30mins each in the lunchroom/auditorium.
My 2nd group walked in and a little boy (6-8yrs maybe) was running around and a teacher was trying to corral him.
The other kids were taking their seats at the front tables while Skye and myself were already sitting waiting at a back table.
He ran up to Skye and hit her on the arm, not super hard, but definitely took her off guard.
A teacher was there less than 2 seconds later and took his hand, led him to a table closer to the other kids, and tried to talk to him. He right away hit that teacher and another student!
She seemed to then get him under control so I put my mic on and I began my intro.
I was just beginning to talk about the first animal I was holding (Ryder the ferret) and the next thing I know this little boy slaps me SO HARD right in the middle of my back (like he must have being winding up while running at me lol!)
I was so focused on the animal in my arms and kids in front of me that I didn’t notice he had started going all the way around the room to get behind me for the attack!
I was LIVID because I had an animal in my hand and that could have been SO BAD if he hit Ryder and not me.
So I growled into my mic and loomed over him “Oi! NO!”
Lemme tell you that boy damn near peed his pants. I don’t think a single staff member had ever raised their voice to him. But you do NOT mess with the safety of my animals.
I demanded that he be taken from the room immediately or I would leave. I was appalled the staff members were letting him run around like that hitting so many people. Clearly this is a normal day for that kidlet.
They actually removed him from the room and called the kid’s mom at that point.
I started my presentation again as he was out in the hallway/main entrance on the other side of the door. He then began to hit the door with either his body, hands or even head, (not sure but it was LOUD)
From now on I’m putting it in my contract that not only do I have the right to refuse service to any guest I deem unfit to touch animals, but that if it’s a safety concern I’ll flat out refuse to even begin a session if they are in the room.
Photo of young Ryder as a thanks for reading! 💚
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I give school staff SO MUCH CREDIT.
Kids can be feral now-a-days.
This kiddo clearly had some behavioral issues and underlying issues.
I didn’t blame the staff — they were trying and had their hands full.
But that kidlet should never have been there to begin with. He needed way more support than what they were able to give.
The other students, staff and guests should not have to be assaulted multiple times before something was done 😕
Lesson learned!
Now I let staff know ahead of time that disruptive kids need to be removed for animal safety.
