My kids were invited to a birthday party at Zoo to You, a little "indoor zoo" out in the middle of nowhere. This is our second birthday party there and Shannon, the owner and presenter, is great. She delivers a high-energy, fast-paced show-and-tell of exotic animals for kids (and adults) of all ages.

I first experienced Shannon and her animals last summer at an outdoor fair. She was wonderful but I was a little bothered when she described her animals as "exotic", typically "found in the rain forest", etc. I wouldn't consider myself a serious animal lover but I have always believed that animals should live in their native surroundings whenever possible. Keeping a pet snake in an aquarium that's half his size or raising a doberman in a tiny apartment or packing pigs in wire cages stacked to the ceiling on factory farms makes me ill.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of Shannon's 50+ animals are rescued from people who have purchased exotic animals illegally or on impulse - boa constrictors are often dumped when they get over 5 feet long and graduate to eating large rats and frozen rabbits.

According to her Web site, Shannon's mission is:

To instill a desire in each person to conserve and protect not only the wildlife, but the balance of nature needed for our Earth to flourish for years to come.

At the party yesterday, Shannon showed this really cool raccoon-like animal that would "typically be found in the rain forest". She explained that these animals give birth to one baby once a year, if that, and that because of the depletion of the rain forest, their numbers are becoming fewer and fewer. She then told the room of 15 or so kindergarteners and their parents that, to help save the rainforest, they should do their part: recycle plastics and paper, properly dispose of batteries and other nasty stuff, etc. I looked around and, as far as I could tell, not one person listening. (Besides me, of course.)