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Petting-zoo handwashing and signage bill fails in committee after testimony on child HUS cases
Summary
SB 10-82 would have required handwashing at exits, signage, enclosures for petting zoos and allowed DHS enforcement; an amendment narrowed supervision requirements but the committee split 4-4 and the bill failed. A parent who lost a child to HUS and public-health evidence were weighed against concerns about overreach and practical enforcement.
Senate Bill 10-82, which would have required petting zoos and similar animal encounter exhibits to provide handwashing (or sanitizer) at exit, post prescribed signage and maintain animals in enclosed areas, failed in the Senate Natural Resources Committee after an evenly divided committee vote.
Sponsor testimony explained the bill targets enclosed petting exhibits—places where a small number of animals have contact with many children—and allows the Department of Health Services (DHS) to adopt implementing rules, inspections and civil penalties up to $100 per violation. A three-page amendment removed a requirement for supervisors to actively police compliance, instead requiring on-site personnel to ensure signs and soap/dispenser availability and directing DHS to provide technical assistance to fairs and county health departments.
Mary McGonigal Martin, vice president of the nonprofit Parker’s Promise, testified that in 2025 her organization supported four Arizona families whose children developed STEC-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after the Arizona State Fair petting zoo; she described long hospital stays and the severe, sometimes permanent harms HUS causes. She said 31 states have agritourism immunity laws that can limit liability for operators and urged the committee to mandate the public-health safeguards outlined in the bill.
Opponents said many fairs already provide handwashing stations, questioned whether the children who got sick had preexisting vulnerabilities, and argued the bill could create enforcement challenges and unintended scope (for example, animal shelters and adoption events were exempted in the amendment). Members debated whether the measure was a reasonable public-health response or an unnecessary regulatory step; after the amendment was adopted, the committee was evenly split 4–4 and the bill failed to pass the committee.
