Meghan Reid has been an animal lover since before she could work, so it only made sense for her to bring out a car-load full of her favourite creatures and invite the entire community to hang out.
“I always had a whole bunch of different animals and I’ve always loved people, so I love being able to share my passion with other people,” she said.
Reid is the owner of Travel To You Zoo, a mobile petting zoo that brings everything from farm animals to house pets to exotics right to your own backyard.
On Friday afternoon, she packed her critters and headed to the Salisbury Library for a public afternoon event and while books weren’t the main focus, the animal-filled event played an important role overall for the library according to the Summer Reading Club leader, Jordan Mantler.
“We always are trying to promote reading and promote education at the library,” she said.
“Today we have all of these animals around, we have a presenter here, so they can come in, pet the animals, have a great time, check-out the library and learn something along the way, so that’s always the goal.”
This is the first time the library has had Travel To You Zoo visit.
Mantler says the library plays such an important role in the community and the animals were a fun way to draw a new crowd of people who don’t visit on a regular basis.
Spectators get up close with a snake at the Travel to You Zoo event in Salisbury, N.B., on July 12, 2024. (Source: Alana Pickrell/CTV News Atlantic)“We’re really trying to promote all of the fun things in the community, supporting local and just getting people to enjoy their time at the library and getting people to know about it,” she said.
This summer the library is offering a Summer Reading Club program and it always has books, puzzles, board games, movies and computers for people to utilize.
Dozens of kids of all ages and adults alike came out to see the many animals climbing inside the pens to get a closer look and a few even being brave enough to drape a well-behaved snake around their shoulders.
In its third year now, Reid hopes Travel To You Zoo gives people a chance to meet and learn about animals they might never have crossed paths with before.
“One of the biggest things I love about what I do is I have snakes and that’s a pretty common fear, so with what I do I’m able to kind of help people get over that fear of snake and learn to love the animals along with all of the other species I have as well,” she said.
Adding, “the kids get to met animals, pet animals, interact with them, learn how to be gentle, so my hope is when people leave this event they leave feeling happy, having known they spent time with animals and that their kids are a little bit less scared of certain animals, like snakes.”
A funky chicken appeared at the Travel to You Zoo event in Salisbury, N.B., on July 12, 2024. (Source: Alana Pickrell/CTV News Atlantic)Today, Reid has between 70-80 different animals, but she says that includes multiples of the same species.
“I have pigs, goats, rabbits, ferrets, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, you name it, I probably have it or it’s on my list,” she laughed.
She says her business started off as an ad on Kijiji and has grown into a dream come true that gives her the chance to travel all over and show communities how amazing all types of animals are.
For more information on where she’ll be next or how to book her for an event, you can visit her social media pages.
Click here for a photo gallery of the Travel To You Zoo’s visit to the Salisbury Library.
