Heartbreaking warning after little girl dies from infection linked to petting zoo

A Victorian petting zoo is under investigation after a little girl died from an infection linked to farmyard animals.

Now the mother of a second infected child has a warning for all Australian parents as the zoo owner promises it won’t happen again.

The three-year-old visited Rain, Hayne and Shine Children’s Farm in Balnarring in July, where she contracted haemolytic uremic syndrome which can be spread through animal faeces.

After a six-week-long battle in ICU, her family confirmed “we’ve lost our darling girl”.

The farm was informed of the child’s death on Wednesday night.

Brooke Snooks visited the same farm with her son Noah two months earlier. He also contracted HUS and went into kidney failure.

“We actually didn’t know at the time that it could have been something that could affect his brain for life or even the worst case scenario could be death,” Snooks said.

Noah survived and while Snooks doesn’t blame the farm, she wants it named so parents are informed.

“Some people might be completely fine to go again or some people might choose that it’s not worth the risk for them,” she said.

The health department investigated the farm and ordered changes. The farm complied with all the requested changes.

“Hand wash was the main thing. So we put some new hand washers in,” farm owner Ian Hayne said.

“Well, I don’t know what we can do really.”

Because HUS can be contracted in many ways, authorities can’t definitively link the cases to the farm.

But the owner knows enough to promise: “I don’t want it to happen again.”

The farm has been operating for decades and has stressed this is the only time they’ve been linked to this sort of illness.

The owners have expressed their deepest condolences, adding this message to parents: “Look after your kids. Look after your kids.”