Ten years and 10,000 adoptions.

Isabella County’s Humane Animal Treatment Society has something to celebrate.

“I have been involved with the organization since it was established in 1999. Our founding members are myself, Lee Fabiano and Carol Smallwood,” said HATS President Debbie Dorn. “We originally were part of the Animal Control building committee and we decided we could be an effective animal welfare advocacy organization if we established ourselves as an independent non-profit, able to fund raise and develop our own programs and goals.”

The help of volunteers made HATS a successful program. HATS has been popular in the community and with students over the past 10 years, so much that a student chapter of the group was started.

“I believe the student chapter has been around for about five or six years,” said HATS Volunteer Coordinator Summer Dubois. “We host an annual Paws and Claws Dinner every year and all proceeds go to the shelter. We also volunteer our time at the shelter and host several fundraisers throughout the year.”

The program has adopted out more than 10,000 animals since 1999 and have returned more than 3,000 to their owners, Dubois said.

“I know the rate of adoptions has gone up and euthanizing has decreased since HATS began,” said Volunteer Deb Gascho. “HATS tries to inform the public about spay and neutering and offers assistance to residents of lower income to get their dog or cat spayed/neutered.”

HATS helps the community and its homeless companion animals by assisting and paying for animal vaccines and veterinary care, finding permanent homes for them, assuring that the animals are spayed and neutered before adoption and providing foster care for animals that would otherwise be euthanized. Adoptions play a huge part in the everyday activities of the HATS staff.

“We expect to have over 4,000 homeless animals entering the facility just this year alone,” Dorn said.

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E-mail the author: Todd Betzold