The Helping Animals Rescue Team cat rescue took in 145 cats directly from the Cumberland County Animal Shelter in 2025.
“The group been doing their amazing work in Crossville since 2011,” said Teresa Bryerton for HART. “They also processed 163 local feral cats that were then released back to their colonies – spayed/neutered, vaccinated and ‘ear-tipped’ to show they were ‘fixed.’”
She added, “All together – counting feral cats and friendlies, the group helped more than 400 cats last year.”
Among the cats they pull from the shelter are friendly cats and kittens, along with all of their so-called “barn cats.”
“The county animal shelter does not make feral and semi-feral cats for adoption to the public. Instead, they place them with HART, and for good reason,” Bryerton said.
Feral and semi-feral cats that come to them via the county animal shelter are outdoor cats only. Once spayed or neutered, these are made available to the public through HART – free, to people who are willing to feed them and can provide them with shelter in their barns.
Bryerton said all friendly felines are posted to the group’s link at Petfinder.com and are placed for adoption in the cat condos located at PetSense in Crossville.
HART also continues to operate their trap, neuter, release program for people who find themselves over-run with colonies of cats that have been dumped on their property or near their homes. Without intervention, those cats continue to breed beyond the concerned citizen’s ability to cover their spay/neuter surgeries and vaccine costs.
“Although HART covers those costs for those stray, colony cats, they are only able to find permanent homes for the ones they determine to be friendly and adoptable,” Bryerton said. “The others are returned to where they came from with their ears ‘tipped.’ Donations definitely help with this effort and the entire HART program.”
HART co-founder Jennifer Cabral said the group primarily operates from direct donations and the adoption donations that are returned to them through the adoption of their friendly cats and kittens.
HART always is in need of people to foster cats and kittens, to help with trapping feral and semi-feral cats, and occasionally to transport cats to and from spay/neuter surgery appointments.
Those who are interested in helping with any of these needs may reach out to HART at hartrescue.weebly.com. Donations can be made through PayPal at (hartrescuetn@gmail.com) or Venmo (@hartrescuetn).
Information on the rescue is also available on Facebook.