Apache is a 11-year-old Catahoula Beagle mix in Huntington, WV, who needs $2000 for surgery to remove a tumor.

Let's just say that Apache couldn't have ended up in a better home! He "tried out" many paths in life, most of them were unsuccessful, and ultimately his fate was to be with Heather A., the head of One By One Animal Advocates. "I love him. He is a really special dog," she tells Waggle.

Heather actually saved Apache several times! We'll get to that in a minute. But now she needs your help saving him again. "At his recent annual checkup, at the Proctorville Animal Clinic, they found a mass that needs to be removed and sent off to pathology to determine if it is cancerous," she says.

The first time Heather saved Apache was on New Year's Eve in 2011. "The shelter was going to euthanize the animals so they wouldn't have to care for them over the holiday, so he became my foster," she says. One By One Animal Advocates saves dogs and cats and works to transfer them to rescue groups. That's where Apache's misadventures began.

"We arranged two different rescues for him, but both times he was sent back for biting and being difficult to handle; one even threatened to euthanize him, the second time Apache escaped this fate," Heather adds. "Before he was returned, he got into rat poison, was bleeding internally, urinating blood, and had difficulty breathing because one lung was consolidated with blood, and we had to hospitalize him. Another time he ate a dark chocolate bar and had to be flushed out. Two more times, Apache cheated death!"

After all of this, Apache now lives with Heather and is part of her family. "Apache has been under the care of an animal behaviorist and even boarded with a trainer, but after two failed attempts at rescue, we call him a permanent foster and wouldn't consider sending him out again into what he considers a scary world," she says. "He earns his keep, though, as he has taken on Chief Foster Ambassador and welcomes all the other dogs to our home, and his silly antics keep us laughing."

Heather hopes you will give to help Apache, who needs to have the tumor removed immediately. "When we pull an animal, we vow to treat them as if they are our own," she says. We also promise to keep them safe. I owe that to him.

Update: Apache strikes again... after bath one evening, Heather noticed Apache limping. She took him to the veterinarian and he was diagnosed with a partial cranial cruciate ligament tear (in his knee) from degenerative old age. Due to Apache's liver issues, surgery was to be avoided at all costs but, true to Apache fashion, his initial tear tore completely, and his second leg soon had a complete tear as well due to overcompensation. Apache was totally lame therefore surgery was the ONLY option. Surgeons worked quickly, as every minute under anesthesia was a risk for Apache. He's thankfully out of surgery and on the mend, but One By One Animal Advocates desperately needs your donations to help pay his veterinary bills. As a non-profit, we depend on the generosity of others to cover medical care out of the ordinary, and, despite everything, he is my derpy, blue-eyed devil, and I hope he can cheat death once again."