Alison | photos by Martin Bandyke

Being a lifelong animal lover, I guess it’s no surprise that my pet cause at Ann Arbor’s 107one is the Humane Society of Huron Valley — and yes, that ‘pet’ pun is fully intended. We try to find forever homes for adoptable animals on the 107one Pet of the Week segment each Thursday at 8:30 a.m., which is when HSHV marketing director Deb Kern stops by for her weekly interview on my radio program. Plus it’s been my pleasure to host the HSHV’s largest annual fundraiser, Walk & Wag, every year since 2007.

This Tuesday, Nov. 9, there will be another major fundraiser for the Humane Society, their fifth annual Compassionate Feast, to be held at Barton Hills Country Club starting at 5:30 p.m. And part of the festivities will include a roast of yours truly (gulp), with several esteemed guests doing the good-natured skewering. My friends at the HSHV are keeping some details of the event secret in order to spring a surprise or two on me, but I do know that my roasters will include Scott Meier, regional vice president of Cumulus Media Midwest (aka my boss); Ken Fischer, president of the University Musical Society; Lee Berry, GM/COO of the Michigan Theater; and Matthew Altruda, Ann Arbor-based music impresario. Music will be supplied by pianist/vocalist Lucciana Costa and jazz-rockers Macpodz, with Deb Kern of the Humane Society your emcee for the evening. Tickets and more information are available at the HSHV website, or by calling 734-662-5585.

The Compassionate Feast will feature a four-course vegetarian meal, with beer and wine included. The evening will be a fun night for a truly important cause, and I do hope to see you there. So do Mocha and Alison, the darling cats my wife, Kim, and I adopted from the Humane Society a little over three years ago.

Recently I talked to Tanya Hilgendorf, HSHV’s executive director, and Deb Kern, marketing director, to find out what’s been happening at the shelter.

Q: Your beautiful new facility opened right around a year ago. What effect has opening up this much-needed new home for the Humane Society had on the community?

Tanya Hilgendorf: I think, for one thing, it sends a really clear message that each life that comes through our door is valuable. While we, as staff and volunteers, valued those animals, we weren’t giving a message as a community that we cared about what happened to those animals in that facility. Here, having a facility that’s healthy, that’s welcoming to the public, but also allows us to take great care of our animals, reinforces that message for everyone — that these animals are important to us. Beyond that message are the concrete things we are able to do. The building is a phenomenal tool in helping us care for animals the way we had wanted to do it, with the highest standards of care and love possible; a tool that allows us to meet our mission.

Mocha

Q: From what you’ve been saying during recent interviews on my 107one program, you’ve been taking in an overwhelming number of stray and abandoned animals at the Humane Society. Is that still the case?

Deb Kern: Absolutely. We’ve only had one week the whole year so far where we’ve adopted more animals than we’ve taken in. Even though we talk about spay and neuter all the time, we’re just not as a society catching up yet. When you adopt an animal from here, you know that they are spayed and neutered before they leave, their vaccinations are up to date, and they have a microchip ID, helpful if they become separated from you. There are so many great reasons to adopt, the number one reason being there are so many that need it. We hope that coming to the shelter will be your first option.

Q: How has Michigan’s terrible economy affected the number of animals being surrendered to the shelter?

Deb Kern: The economy in Michigan hasn’t helped us. Some of the reasons why animals came to the shelter that didn’t used to hit the radar are now definitely up there, things like home foreclosure, job loss or a move into an apartment or someplace they’re renting where the landlords won’t accept animals or the pet fee is too highm and they can't keep afford to keep their pets. It’s an overwhelming problem that’s still there.

Q: Anything that people need to know about the Humane Society that perhaps they may not be aware of?

Tanya Hilgendorf: Well one thing is that the building is not paid off yet. We’re moving into our Phase 2, the final phase of fund raising. We raised what we needed to raise to get it built, but we have not raised what we need to pay off our debt, the county bonds. So we still have a bill of a million three (hundred thousand).

Q: So people need to buy Compassionate Feast tickets to defray the costs, amongst other things, right?

Tanya Hilgendorf: They do. There are still naming opportunities left here, but we need to get this building finished. Our job is to focus on our operating fund. It costs us more to be here, we’re serving more animals and serving more of the public as well, and we want to continue growing to meet the needs of our community’s vulnerable animals.

Martin Bandyke is the 6-10 a.m. morning drive host on Ann Arbor’s 107one. Follow him on Twitter @MartinBandyke and at his website.