Tanya Stephenson has been rescuing dogs since 2001. As director and co-founder of Agape Animal Rescue, Tanya is a foster mom, organizes fundraising events, and does pretty much anything needed at the time!

Tanya has four personal dogs, one cat, and a turtle! Tanya started rescuing dogs after finding a litter of puppies in a ditch. Mack, one of Tanya's personal dogs, was the runt of this litter. Mack stole Tanya's heart and began her love and passion for rescuing animals instantly. After finding homes for Mack's brothers and sisters Tanya started searching for a rescue group to work with. After working with many different groups, Tanya found Chris Bryant and the formation of Agape began.

Now, Mack is a certified therapy dog through Therapy ARC and is helping people every chance he gets! Tanya also serves on the Therapy ARC board of directors.

Tanya's other personal rescued animals include a shih tzu, Kelsey, who was dumped at a vet’s office after having a neck injury. Kelsey came home with Tanya one weekend so she could get out of the kennel for a couple days and never went back. Bert is a black lab mix who was severely abused and decided one day that Tanya needed to be his forever mom. Minnie is a miniature pincher who is victim of a bad breeder. She is 8 years old with cancer, but has adjusted nicely and loves her new home. Gracie Ann is a tortishell cat, who was wondering around a church parking lot when she was 6 weeks old. Gracie Ann tested positive for feline leukemia and Tanya just could not let her go; she is doing wonderful at 3 years old.  Miss Tuttle is the Russian turtle Tanya rescued all the way from Virginia.

Tanya is dedicated to saving the lives of dogs and cats in need … one life at a time.

contact: tanya@agaperescue.org

Chris Bryant has been doing rescue, in some capacity, for over 10 years. She is secretary and co-founder of Agape Animal Rescue and also fosters dogs in her home, screens potential adopters, and does just about anything else needed.

Chris lives with her personal animals, 4 dogs and 2 cats in Murfreesboro, TN. Chris' animal family consists of a 10-year-old special needs Chocolate Lab named Chance, an 8-year-old rescued Australian Shepherd mix named Mischief. She also has a 4- year-old Bichon (Baxter) who was rescued then it was discovered he had renal cancer and was adopted by Chris as her personal pet to live out the remainder of his life, and she pulled a tiny Chihuahua mix puppy (Speck) from the animal shelter and he never left her home! Her cats were both rescued, one from the Smyrna Walmart, and both live happily in her home (Smokey and Cinder)! If you're around Chris for very long, you're likely to hear her say, "it's all about the animals,” more than once.

She first started doing rescue when she found a puppy running around her neighborhood and worked with a local rescue group to find her a home (by the way, Angel now lives with Chris' parents in North Carolina). Chris is an executive assistant and commutes into Nashville for her full-time (paying) job every day. She has a daughter who attends MTSU.

contact: chris@agaperescue.org