I am starting this fundraiser with a very simple goal; to give my mom the best birthday present I can think of, namely giving her the funds she needs to help even more animals than she already does.

Every year in Portugal, a country with 10million inhabitants, 100k abandoned pets are euthanized every year. Please help us change that with your contribution.

My mom is probably the most altruistic person I have ever met and deserves all the love she gets;

• she's a doctor for the public health system and despite the very frequent pay cuts they are going through, she refuses to get her own private office where she would make more money and have to work less for it because she genuinely wants to help people in need.
  -We're going through a very bad economical crisis and the public workers are the ones suffering the most cuts to support a grossly incompetent government.
  Her focus is on chronic pain treatment and palliative care for terminal patients, and she has helped numerous people dealing not only with physical pain but emotional pain and loss as well
• Right now, she has around 15 rescued animals, cats and dogs mostly, in her place. Some of them were picked up from the street in very bad shape, or from shelters where they were waiting to be put to sleep or were too sick and malnourished to survive in a shelter
• She helps many people like her who also save animals from the streets, official and unofficial shelters and associations in many different ways by providing food, paying for neuterings for rescued or recently adopted pets when their owners can't afford it, transporting animals around the country in her car to their new homes, paying for toys or even washing machines and other necessary goods.

With almost no help from anyone on her very limited free time and resources, she has managed to save hundreds of animals.

Here are some of the stories and pictures of animals she has helped or adopted in the last few years (I will be posting more pictures as well as some before and after pictures as soon as I have them)

1. Clara was in very bad shape when my mom brought her in; she was hit by a car who crushed her front leg. It was a miracle it wasn't amputated, and thanks to the surgery my mom got her and the great care she gave her, she managed to save her leg and is now super hyper and happy.

2. Grande was rescued along with his brother Zarolho, who nearly lost an eye to an infection.

3. Farol sat next to us on the beach during vacation, and he was such a nice skinny guy we brought him back home with us.

4. Isolda was abandoned at our local vet, she was very skinny and frightened when my mom brought her home but she is now a very elegant young lady.

5. On my mom's birthday two years ago, we were heading home after dinner and she begged us to stop the car so she could save little Chica. She was very malnourished, had a broken tail, back and breathing problems. She's now a meanie to the other pets but a total sweety with people.

6/7. Bolinha and Carocha were brought in together from a shelter up north. They were dumped in there along with some more puppies, and my mom brought the two of them home in hopes of finding them owners. Bolinha was adopted, but Carocha wasn't. They're both very happy girls anyway!

8. Gabriela was brought in from the vet where she was abandoned, here she is sleeping with my cat Honky. She's adorable, loves eating everything, she will steal your cheese. She's a fearless little girl who won't be intimidated by you (even if you're a huge german shepherd)

My goal with this campaign is to raise a significant amount of money to help my mother go on helping all these people and animals without going bankrupt or worrying constantly about money and also to share her story and inspire more people to do the same.

It would be really amazing if we could ease this load she carries on her heart, and I hope I can find people out there who are willing to chime in and help her make this world a better place!