Ella is a one-year-old Pit Bull in Simi Valley, CA, who needs $1,000 for heart surgery.

Ella had a rotten start to life. When she was a puppy, she was attacked by another dog and needed surgery. But when a veterinarian examined Ella, the doctor found she had a level five heart murmur. That's one of the most severe murmurs; it's so loud you can feel it by holding your hand against a dog's chest.

Mark S., with Southern California Pit Bull Rescue, tells Waggle that Ella's owners could not afford her medical care, so they dumped her in an animal shelter. "How horrible is that? The dog will cost too much money, so off to the shelter you go," Mark says.

The shelter then contacted Mark. "They said, 'This puppy needs heart surgery,'" he says. "Who is going to adopt a dog like that? She would have never made it out of the shelter." So Mark saved Ella immediately.

The VSEC Veterinary Specialty And Emergency Center Of Thousand Oaks' cardiology team performed an echocardiogram and a balloon valvuloplasty surgery. During the procedure, a surgeon used a balloon to inflate Ella's defective heart valve, so it expands and works better. Though the operation was expensive, Mark says it was worth every penny; Ella is so much happier.

"It totally changed her life," he adds. "She didn't have a lot of energy; now she does. She can be active. She's expected to live a full productive life. If she didn't have the surgery, she would have only lived five to six years."

Now the nonprofit group is trying to pay off Ella's surgery tab and hopes Waggle's generous pet lovers help Ella and donate. Southern California Pit Bull Rescue doesn't turn away dogs with costly needs. "That's why I started this rescue, not for the healthy dogs, but for dogs who will probably never make it out of the shelter unless someone pays their medical bills. That's what my rescue is about," Mark says.

Please have a heart and donate to help Ella's!