Humane Animal Treatment Society raises awareness at 5k run and adoption reunion
Adopted dogs had the chance to reunite Saturday morning in Mount Pleasant.
More than 60 people arrived at Island Park, 331 N. Main St., with their adopted dogs Saturday for the 13th annual Tails and Trails 5k sponsored by with Humane Animal Treatment Society of Mount Pleasant.
"This event is to raise awareness about what we do, and why we do what we do," said Jill Irving, Executive Director of HATS.
Last year, the run/walk event raised about $5,000, said Debbie Dorn, one of three founding members of HATS. This year, their goal is to raise more than that, but the total could not be revealed until all money raised is counted, she said.
A large portion of the proceeds of the event goes toward veterinary care, vaccines and medications for the animals, the primary expense of HATS.
"We get an excess of 3,000 animals a year and we are able to save close to 75 percent of those," Irving said. "We have a 90 percent adoption rate among our dogs. Cats are a little more difficult to get adopted because there are more of them."
Many of the adopted dogs, their owners and HATS staff got the chance to reunite over coffee, donuts and fall air — all while raising money for their organization.
"Years ago, in 1999, the first years of our organization, one of our volunteers who was a runner decided that it would be a good idea for us to do a 5k run for a fundraiser," Dorn said. "It is now a 5k run and a fun walk for people and their dogs. Its also an opportunity for those who adopted pets to reunite."
Deb Gascho has been volunteering with HATS for about seven years and said it's difficult to see how people throw pets away.
"Animals are not commodities, they're a part of the family and the shelter promotes that with the spraying and neutering program," said Gascho, who adopted her dog Winston from the shelter a couple of years ago.
