The Purina Farms Visitor's Center incorporates a Pet Center, a full-size barn containing domestic farm animals, and a theater and informational center. Demonstrations, dog obedience shows and hands-on petting areas are some of the highlights of this popular attraction, which draws nearly 200,000 visitors a year.

The Visitor's Center Building

The Purina Farms Visitor's Center offers an educational experience by providing exhibits that help explain to owners how to determine the optimal diet for their pet based on its health and nutritional status. In addition, a 75-seat theater offers an ongoing video presentation.

Visitors can experience the excitement of operating a pet food factory in a hands-on exhibit that demonstrates Purina's expertise in creating leading dog and cat foods. Plus, displays and a timeline help to connect visitors with the history of Purina.

While at the Visitor's Center, visitors can browse through the Purina Farms Store to pick up Purina momentos or breed-specific sculptures, ornaments and shirts. Food services also are provided at the Visitor's Center.

The Barn and Play Area

The Barn and Play Area allow visitors to interact with a variety of domestic animals found on a typical working farm. Romp in the Barn's hayloft, swing on a rope or milk a cow. The Barn and Play area are geared toward fun and education for children as well as adults.

The two-story Barn houses sheep, horses, cows, hogs, rabbits, chickens and other barnyard animals. A petting ring in the Barn's nursery area allows children to get up-close and personal with baby bunnies, chicks and piglets. Milking demonstrations are held throughout the day.

An enclosed area next to the Barn features scheduled performances of herding dogs, demonstrating their expertise at corralling farm animals. The demonstrations provide a firsthand look at how dogs have been used through the ages to work "hand-in-paw" with man.

The Pet Center

The Pet Center allows visitors to view dozens of dogs and cats that call Purina Farms home. The building's key attraction is a 20-foot-tall, multilevel cat house, complete with windows, stairways, rocking chairs and other furnishings, creating a feline paradise. A staircase surrounding the structure provides visitors with an eye-level view of the cat house's inhabitants. The Pet Center allows visitors to view dozens of dogs and cats that call Purina Farms home. The building's key attraction is a 20-foot-tall, multilevel cat house, complete with windows, stairways, rocking chairs and other furnishings, creating a feline paradise. A staircase surrounding the structure provides visitors with an eye-level view of the cat house's inhabitants.

The Pet Center also features educational displays and videos that help visitors better understand their pets and the role pets play in our lives. A unique display lets visitors experience the scents a dog's sensitive nose perceives while walking through a field.

The Pet Center's staff of professional handlers conducts grooming demonstrations throughout the day and is available to answer questions on pet care and training. Dogs from the Pet Center also are featured performers in obedience demonstrations staged in the Visitor's Center amphitheater.

Field Trips

Thousands of St. Louis-area school children each year travel to Purina Farms on field trips. The educational emphasis of Purina Farms makes it perfect for integrating into the curriculum of preschool and elementary school students. During the off-season -- November through March -- Purina Farms offers classroom presentations that focus on the role pets play in our lives and the importance of obedience training. For more information on scheduling a field trip to Purina Farms or to request a classroom presentation, call (314) 982-3232.