A DEVASTATED dog lover says her beloved pet pooch will die unless she can raise enough money for him to undergo life-saving heart surgery.

Susan McGoldrick, 58, lives in Clacton with her ten rescue dogs, of which six are chihuahuas.

Four years ago she rescued chihuahua Archie from animal refuge Silver Fox Rescue, when he was just three years old.

Despite previously being abused, the adorable pup, seamlessly slotted into Susan’s life, showing himself to be an adorable and loving character.

Earlier this year, however, Archie, now seven years old, was diagnosed with a serious heart condition.

It has left him in urgent need of a pacemaker in order for him to survive.

“Without the operation, Archie will die, because he is basically already in heart failure,” said heartbroken Susan.

“He is already coughing up and building up fluid, and the vets can’t give us a timescale, but it won’t be long.

“Chihuahua’s are a long-life breed, so if I can get him the pacemaker fitted, Archie should be able to live a normal life, and hopefully reach a good age.”

Pacemakers are used when the heart beats too slowly or even stops for prolonged periods of time.

Once installed the pacemaker would ensure Archie’s heart doesn’t stop and that his heart rate is always kept high enough to allow a normal life.

A pacemaker unit is composed of a small generator which delivers impulses to the heart through an electrical lead implanted inside the heart.

The cost of the vital operation, however, is proving to be massive financial hurdle for Susan, which is threatening Archie’s chances of any kind of future.

Although he is insured, the £5,000 surgery he urgently needs is not covered within the policy.

It means Susan is now desperately having to scrape the money together herself.

“It was mentioned by a previous vet that Archie has a heart murmur, so the insurance will not cover the cost of the operation,” added Susan.

“This has left me to fund this treatment myself, but it is an awful lot of money for me to find.

“I am trying to obtain a loan to fund some of it, but I don’t think I will get enough to cover the whole bill.”

In a last-ditch attempt to clamber the cash together, Susan has now launched a fundraising page, which she is hoping will touch the hearts of animal lovers online.

In total, she is asking for £3,500, which will cover the main bulk of the operation’s overheads, but so far only 40 per cent of the target has been donated.

“For Archie’s sake, and so he can hopefully live a normal life, I ask for people to make a donation and help me fund this operation,” pleaded Susan.

“I will be trying as much as I can, but without some kind of help, I don’t think I will be able to manage the whole amount.

“If Archie dies, because of money, I will feel very sad.

“He had a hard and bad start in life, but he was given a second chance when I rescued him, but he could be denied a happy future.”

To donate towards Archie’s heart surgery visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/archie-the-chihuahua.