On the surface is the appearance of easy, old-time fun: Whirling carnival rides, mobs of people, gobs of cotton candy, children primping and scrubbing barnyard animals.

Katie Patrick, 9, of the Palmyra 4-H Club, waits in the pen with her LaMancha goat Double

But 2004 is a year of unusual wariness at the Douglas County Free Fair. The 4-H children, their parents and fair volunteers have been warned to keep an eye out for suspicious-looking animal lovers.

They are alert for people taking pictures and asking questions.

“In the times we live in, it’s just something we thought the kids should be made aware of,” said Doug Rich, Douglas County Fair Board president. “If someone is taking their picture or asking them questions, they should find out who that person is. It’s just common sense.”

Rich said the warnings were a precaution deemed necessary after conversations with officials from county fairs across the state. He said the fair board decided to make participants aware that animal rights operatives may be among them.

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Rich said such people could attend the fair, take pictures and gather information that could be misconstrued and used in literature lambasting animal cruelty.

Ron Baker, fair board vice president, said a picture taken of an animal in a device used to hold it for trimming might look cruel to someone who didn’t understand the purpose of the device.

“But it’s actually needed to keep the animal and the child from getting hurt,” he said.

“Times are changing; this is just a precaution we thought we should take for ourselves,” Rich said.

From left, Kate Schneider, 12, Sara Rushe, 13, and Cami Ford, 12, all of Lawrence, sail through the air on the Cliff Hanger on the Midway at the Douglas County Free Fair. The midway opened Tuesday evening and runs through Saturday night.

So before the fair, board members advised event superintendents and 4-H group leaders to prepare children for animal rights activists possibly attending the fair.

“It hasn’t been just at the fair; discussions have been taking place for a couple of weeks,” Rich said. “Most of the children probably already knew about this.”

Despite the vigilance, no animal rights advocates had been spotted at the fair as of Wednesday, officials said.

Stephanie Bell, a cruelty case worker for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said she was unaware of any organized animal activist groups going to county fairs, taking pictures or asking questions.

Douglas County 4-H Fair judge Mary Ellen Barnes, of Tonganoxie, looks over some canned green beans at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds.

“This sounds like hysteria,” Bell said of the fair board’s warnings. “My question is: ‘What are they worried about?’ If they have nothing to hide, why would a photograph scare anyone?”

But she said she had received several complaints from people who had witnessed acts of animal cruelty at fairs. She said her organization encouraged fairgoers who see such acts to document them and take their evidence to local law enforcement agencies.

Some of the complaints she heard included descriptions of nicks, cuts and pieces of flesh carved from sheep during a shearing contest in California and animals being deprived of food, water and adequate shelter.

Doug Rich gets a bite of berry pie Wednesday morning during the fair's daily pie tasting.

“Most fairs are in the summer months when weather conditions are extreme,” Bell said. “The animals need to be provided with protection.”

At the Douglas County Free Fair, 4-H member Jessica Gibler said her chickens weren’t suffering.

“My dad says the chickens are taken care of better than us,” said the 13-year-old from Lecompton.

Her mom, Rhonda Gibler, said the chickens received water and food several times a day and were allowed to run around in a big pen behind their house.

“The kids get quite attached to these animals,” Rhonda Gibler said. “They’re treated better than pets.”