We need help to get lifesaving medical care for three of our rescue Chihuahuas:

Those pictures are the teeth of our 19 year old, 6 lb disabled rescue dog. Those teeth are literally killing her, and we have just weeks to take action. Many of her teeth have simply fallen out. But the infection of those which remain has been so relentless, for so long, that it caused her heart to begin to fail. Every single day we wait is another day that poison is working against her heart and her entire body.

Her name is Noelle. At some point in her life, her foot was fractured. Whoever had her at the time did not get it fixed, so now she is disabled.

We are guessing but we think that possibly her human owner died, and whoever had her next, some horrible and cruel person, took her out to a remote place and left her on purpose so she would freeze to death. Because she was old and disabled and too much trouble, so they discarded her like trash.

Amazingly good Samaritan found her before it was too late, and saved her life, by taking her to the shelter. We adopted her at Christmas, named her Noelle and gave her a home. That is what we do. We rescue the old, the sick, the fragile Chihuahuas that nobody wants.

But now the clock is ticking, and we have four weeks to get her to the dental specialist 300 miles away to get those teeth out, before we run out of options.

Noelle is not alone. We have three other elderly Chi girls who also need to make that same trip.

Lucy came to us grieving the loss of her person, carrying a heart condition that had been diagnosed but never treated.

Yvette was beaten so badly that her back was broken. She bit everyone who came near her cage at the shelter because she was in agony. That was seven years ago. Today she is pure joy.

And Ainni, all five pounds of her, was thrown into the street in the middle of winter because someone wanted to hurt someone else. She was collateral damage. She survived it, and she has not stopped wagging since.

Every single one of these dogs was thrown away at the exact moment things got hard. Every single one of them chose to keep going anyway. Each one is filled with love, and joy, and happiness now. But they need help.

They want to live. We want to help them do exactly that.

Getting four medically fragile senior Chihuahuas to a specialist three hundred miles away is not simple or cheap.

It means five days away from home, a specialist clinic, an anesthesiologist monitoring for two of them because their heart conditions make anything less too dangerous.

It means five days of lodging, gas for a vehicle pulling an enclosed trailer, meals, a volunteer to help with post-op care, and closing our boarding business for the week.

An incredible angel sponsor has already stepped up to cover one of our dogs, Lucy. So that means we need to raise funds for Noelle, Ainni, and Yvette, plus the cost of the trip.

In the last three months, my husband Dennis and I have spent over $15,000 of our own money getting these dogs here, settled, into appropriate vet care, prescriptions, and specialty food. But I cannot do this part alone.

Our goal is $13,000. Here is exactly why:

Noelle's dental surgery: at least $3,500

Ainni's dental surgery: at least $2,500

Yvette's dental surgery: at least $2,500

Five nights lodging in Bozeman: $2,000

Gas (Suburban pulling an enclosed trailer): $310

Meals for three people (a volunteer is going along to help with post op care), for five days: $1,575

Specialty transport gear: $500

Boarding care for the dogs staying behind: not yet calculated

Post-op medications and unexpected costs: not yet calculated

Every dollar goes directly to the dogs. No overhead. No salaries. Just these tiny lives that deserve a fighting chance.

We are in the final stages of establishing Gigi's Gems Chihuahua Rescue as an official 501(c)(3). We take the dogs others turn away. The biters. The ones with the broken backs and the medical files nobody wants to read.

If you can give, please give.

If you cannot give, please share.

Every single person who sees this is one person closer to getting these girls to the help they need.

Noelle has four weeks. Let's make them count.