The Homeless Animal Rescue Team in Cumberland raised $82,000 through its Medical Appeal and annual yard sale to help pay for medical procedures and care for cats admitted to its no-kill shelter.

Cookie Mikayla Patel / The Forecaster

HART receives no public funding and relies on donors for financial support to care for cats that have been surrendered, abandoned, injured or abused, according to Andy Hanna, HART’s director of operations. Expenses can be high.

The shelter recently had “a brother and sister pair who had no eyelids, and we needed to do plastic surgery,” Hanna said. Another cat, Cookie, a senior kitty whose colon was “flexed,” required a medical procedure. Some of the money raised through the appeal was used to treat the three cats.

Funds also go toward medications, painkillers and spaying and neutering, Hanna said.

Willow, a 14-year-old resident at HART in Cumberland. Mikayla Patel / The Forecaster

The shelter now holds 78 cats, with 57 more in foster homes. When permanent placements can’t be found, the cats live at the shelter full time.

“We hope that every cat in the shelter and some in foster homes will all eventually find homes, but we understand that some will need to stay here,” Hanna said.

Cats that are “very shy and under socialized” or very old often become permanent residents, he said.

HART has a current appeal focused on its longest-term residents, Hanna said.

“We are always in need of canned food,” he said. The shelter also needs litter and medical equipment to maintain the wellbeing of the cats.

Lopen, a three-legged cat who was recently adopted. Mikayla Patel / The Forecaster

He commends the “the generosity of the HART community,” donors and volunteers.

Joan Wallace, a longtime HART volunteer and organizer of the annual yard sale held at the Cumberland Fairgrounds, said the fundraising success is because of the volunteers.

“All this was accomplished with a large group of incredible human beings that gave 150% of their time, energy and sweat to make this happen,” she said.

For more information on their cats and current campaigns, visit hartofme.org.