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The owner of a mobile petting zoo targeted by PETA Australia has expressed surprise that the University of Canberra cut ties with her business following lobbying by the animal rights group. Uriarra business Noah's Ark Farm Friends typically visits the university four times a year to give frazzled students the chance to pat its hand-reared animals ahead of exams. But the University of Canberra has indicated it will no longer hire Noah's Ark after PETA complained via email that petting zoos "[escalate] the stress level of the animals, who, unlike the human visitors, cannot leave the zoo when they've had enough". "A busy space filled with a noisy crowd and live music is a highly unsuitable environment for animals," PETA outreach and partnerships liaison officer Emily Rice wrote to the university. "Being handled and forced into close proximity with strangers is a stressful and traumatic experience for most species. "What's more, petting zoos contribute to a cruel cycle of breeding, abandonment, and killing." In a short email, sent more than a month after PETA made contact, a University of Canberra employee responded to Ms Rice: "The university acknowledges your concerns and will in future look for alternate activities for our students as part of 'Stress Less Week'." Noah's Ark Farm Friends co-owner Cathy Rogers said she had had little contact with the University of Canberra about its decision, "only that they were concerned about negative responses to having the petting zoo there on campus". Animal rights activists had once dressed as chickens and distributed flyers on American factory farming by her stall, she said, but she had never received a formal complaint. Ms Rogers said her animals were healthy and "so happy". "It stinks that a group that's never ever approached me can just ban me off something like that, affect my business," she said. "These animals may do four hours - that's it - and they return back to their paddock to do whatever they want to do. "Everyone has their own beliefs and that's fine, but I shouldn't be stopped from doing what I do simply because somebody else has a different belief system. I don't think that's right." A University of Canberra spokeswoman said the institution recognised "some of [PETA's] points are valid". "Therefore, it has decided not to host on-campus petting zoos during its Stress Less Week events," she said. "Students, however, will still be able to participate in alternative fun and relaxing activities prior to the exam period."

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