"Never, never, never, never give in."

That famous quotation is from the great Winston Churchill. It might well be one of the mottos for El Refugio. It's hard. Sometimes it looks too hard. It looks hopeless - so tempting to give up. But we keep on going on. Never, never, never give up. One of the things that lifts our spirits, even if it's only tiny glimmerings of light in a very dark day is to see precious dogs start to heal, to want to live again.

When you take them from the killing station, sick and miserable and just months later see them romping together in a new and loving home. When you see faithful darlings like Sally and Cem begin to recover from terrible experiences, loyal to their bosses to the last. Poor Sally guarding her master's property, even though he'd gone off and left her. Cem, refusing to leave the cemetery where her beloved owner was buried. Still others, like Mr Napoles in the previous post, neglected and ill treated but finally healing and ready for a new happier life. Here, briefly, are some of their stories. Just a handful among thousands.

                               

Yimi. A few hours before that first photograph was taken, he was a happy little dog. A family dog living with his boss. And suddenly, inexplicably both to him and to us, he was no longer wanted. He found himself in the Refugio, his whole world had collapsed. He stopped eating. He stopped drinking. He just stood. He wouldn't even lie down. Everyone was so worried - it got so bad he had to be put on a drip. It's still touch and go, but here's that glimmer of hope. He's now with a foster family and just beginning to drink a little, to eat a tiny morsel. Dear Yimi, keep going. We'll find you a loving home.

Pippy and Cloie, now Myrthe and Merril. Rescued from the killing station where their other sister was lying dead in the cage. Only five months old, they were very sick and it wasn't certain they'd make it. They did. A few months later Myrthe flewoff to Belgium where she was joined by her sister a bit later, once she was strong enough. Now they are both living happily together on a donkey sanctuary with two other ACE dogs and a rescue dog from Greece. And getting stronger by the minute.

               

                 Playing happily, together forever in their forever home.

            

In the first picture you see devoted Sally, guarding her family home. Never realising that her family had abandoned her with the house. Every day she patrolled around, went down the road to check, always keeping guard. And then even the house was no longer available, it was repossessed. That's when we managed to persuade her to come with us. She was lost at first but such a lovely dog. And now, now at last she has another home, with a boss who will never let her down. Ever.

                          

Unlike the other poor creatures pictured above, Cem did have a good boss. A boss who loved him and whom he loved in return. But his boss died. Cem was heartbroken. So much so that, after the funeral, he refused to leave. How could he leave his beloved boss who would never have left him? So he stayed, faithful to the last. That made people angry - they didn't want him hanging about. Kinder people fed him but the people from the killing station wanted to grab him. The kind people who were feeding him told us about him and everyone kept an eye on him. And eventually he was persuaded. In the second picture you see him with us, having a little play in Bullie's hammock. We're looking for a super wonderful boss who will help heal Cem's broken heart.

Just four stories among thousands of moving stories that make you angry, sad, heartbroken, despairing and finally happy and hopeful. We just have to keep on keeping on, and we do. Even in the darkest days because of these stories, because there's always that glimmer of hope and the chance of great love for these dogs in new families.