Beatrice is a four-year-old Beagle in Huntington, WV, who needs $2,000 for heart surgery.

Bea was elusive, and so was her life-threatening heart condition.

The kind-eyed beagle was likely dumped in a rural area between two mountains. She was first spotted living under an abandoned trailer with another beagle. "A local woman would drive by every couple of days and leave them food on a paper plate," Heather A., with Western West Virginia Animal Rescue Alliance (WWVARA), tells Waggle.

The good Samaritan reported the pair to the local animal control, but they could not catch them. When they would show up, the dogs were never spotted. It was timing.

Finally, that good Samaritan launched into an even more heroic role. She managed to catch both dogs and got them to WWVARA. Heather was thrilled. "I was very happy," she says. "It's so sad thinking of dogs intentionally dumped and waiting under a trailer for a plate of food."

Bea was very thin, but she appeared to be in good health. Everyone figured her weight was low because she was a stray. The group scheduled her spay surgery at the shelter, and that's when things got hectic.

"The medical director listed to Bea's heart. She had such a severe murmur she needed to be transported right away to the animal hospital," Heather says.

So they raced her to Proctorville Animal Clinic, where a veterinarian discovered her heart was quite broken. Bea needed to go to the specialty hospital, MedVet, stat! "It was so severe they had us bring her there that very day," Heather says.

After many tests, the medical team found Bea had a hole in her heart; a condition called patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). "If it's not surgically repaired, it will cause her death in under a year," Heather says. "My mother had a PDA and had to have the same surgery when she was 13 years old. So I had such a connection to Bea."

Now the rescue group is racing again, this time to raise the money for Bea to have her life-saving surgery. "The operation is usually highly successful, and she should live a normal life with the surgery. Without it, she will die a slow, difficult death," Heather adds.

The nonprofit group hopes you will help mend Bea's broken heart.

"We survive day by day," Heather says. "We're grateful that through Waggle, we can reach out to an animal-loving community. We are often amazed at how generous people are for animals they've never met. Thank you!"