Pet Tales: Dinner, dancing with wolves? No, just dinner

Why dance with wolves when you can have dinner with them?

Before you get romantic notions about a certain Kevin Costner movie in which is character befriended a very tame wolf, this particular dinner will include a wolf-resistant barrier between you and any four-legged carnivores attending.

Still, as you delicately carve at your well-cooked entree, you should have the company of what will likely be a few very envious, and very endangered, Mexican gray wolves. And the money you spent for the privilege of dining in the company of these elegant animals will go to the wolves themselves and their brethren in the wild.

On Sunday, April 19, the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center is hosting Dinner With Wolves, a one-of-a-kind event to bring attention (and cash) to the plight of the Mexican gray wolves, which were pushed to near extinction as ranchers expanded territories for livestock.

The wolves like nothing better than defenseless, slow-moving meals, having no idea their appetites would draw the ire of gun-toting cattle owners.

There are fewer than 85 Mexican grays left in the North American wild, and efforts have been made to reintroduce them to Arizona and New Mexico, according to the conservation center.

Tickets to Dinner with Wolves are $250 and includes a defenseless meal that will be placed right in front of you (as well as transportation from the Omni Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Montelucia, 4949 E. Lincoln Drive.)

A cocktail reception is included, but please refrain from drinking enough that you insist on dancing with any wolves. It would not end well.

In the mood to do more financially? Be an Alpha Wolf Sponsor for $10,000 (buys 10 permiere seats) and instantly command the respect of your human pack. Other sponsorships are available ranging from $500-$5,000.

Details: 4-7 p.m. Sunday, April 19, 602-374-3906, dinnerwithwolves.com.