SAN ANTONIO -- Laying on a Christmas-green fleece blanket, Rainbow the dappled chocolate dachshund waited for her constant pain to subside after a bath and her medication.

“Right about here, where her back is sunk down,” said Christine McEntyre, pointing to an area of Rainbow’s visible spine.

As the founder of Diamond Dachshund Rescue of Kerrville, McEntyre brought Rainbow to veterinarian Cuatro Patterson, who showed where Rainbow’s spine went from healthy to fuzzy.

"The bone isn’t there," said Patterson, looking at the X-ray. "We don’t think it was something she was born with, so we can only assume it was trauma."

Left untreated despite her excruciating pain and paralysis, Rainbow was held captive by the operators of an alleged puppy mill in Utopia that Bandera County Animal Control shut down last month. Rainbow was among more than 40 other dachshunds living in squalid conditions that are now in shelters and foster homes.

"She was a good breeder because she couldn’t get away from the male dogs," said McEntyre, adding that Rainbow’s puppies could nurse without her ever moving. "When animal control seized her and her babies, she was in a bathtub."

Yet now, time is running out. After Rainbow finishes nursing her last three pups, McEntyre will have to decide whether to put her down.

"That may be our only option because we can’t let her live in pain," she said.

McEntyre said she hopes a benefactor helps with the cost of an MRI or other imaging tests that may reveal a better, pain-free alternative.

"I’ve got a canine cart for her," McEntyre said. "We can teach her how to use a doggie wheelchair."

McEntyre said when Rainbow’s pain is managed, she can sit and eat on her own and even move her legs and wag her soft, shaggy tail.

"So she can feel," she said. "Even in this much pain, this dog gives kisses. She's very well loved, but we don’t want her to hurt anymore."

McEntyre urges anyone who adopt Rainbow and the other dogs rescued from the puppy mill to please call 830-367-5741 or contact her at Diamond Dachshund Rescue of Texas’ website at ddrtx.org/rainbow.html.