Rehabber's tale, Little Yin Yin

Ok, I tried this the other day, but lost my post, I said I would try again, here goes (remember, select all, copy, just in case)Got it!

I have been going to Westgate Tabernacle, a church that shelters the homeless (see link to right... "help the homeless") One Sunday, I saw a girl with a little black pug on a leash in the church. After service I wandered over and checked out a little dog that was paralysed with fear, and on the verge of being in poor health. I could tell there was something amiss with the poor thing. The girl said that the dog was not hers, but that the owner lived there in the shelter, but had been taken to the hospital, and the others there had been "taking turns" caring for poor Yin Yin. The next day I went back to the shelter and asked permission to take care of her untill her owner returned. I had really hoped that I would be able to re-home the little dog to a secure "forever" home.
I took her straight to the vet and had her checked out, she was full of intestinal parasites, which I had treated. That first night, she would not even lay down, she was so affraid of everything and everyone. I finally got her to sleep by holding her in my lap. After a few days she began to show remarkable improvement. She had a crate, a bed, regular meals at regular times, and was beginning to play! I wasnt sure if she even knew HOW to play when I got her. She had been in her halter so long that all the hair underneath the straps was worn off

I was fast falling in love with my little pug-girl, and my other little princess, Mini, knew it. She began leaving little "I'm pissed" messages here and there. After a week, Yin Yin was doing wonderfully and the folks in the neighborhood began to remark on how good she was looking and how happy she had gotten. I know. The picture shown is when she came to me, you can see how tired and worn out she looks. I wish I had a chance to take another after she felt good.
Then bright and early Monday Morning, I got a phone call. "This is Valerie, I am Yin Yin's mom (owner, for non-dog readers) I want to come pick her up" EEEEE! not so soon, I am not ready, she is not ready.
Anyway, she came over, all my requirements for return where met without my asking. She had a personal reference with her, who vouched for her living conditions. She had a phone number, and address, a job (live-in nurse) and persmission from her employer to keep the dog there. She even paid the $100 vet bill and aggreed to bring her back for her follow up on her wormer.
This woman, is tiny, and frail, her hands trembled, she was so fragile and I knew she loved that little dog, even though she might not be the best owner, Yin Yin was, none the less, hers.
I had invested a lot of time to get this little animal confident enough to relax, and she had come to be a funny, active litte scamp!. Now I had to give her up to a woman that, between the two of them, I knew the little dog had the stronger spirit. I t was a very hard thing to do, but I did it, and I told her that little Yin always had a place to stay at my house, if she ever got displaced again, she could just bring her right over.

I love doing rehab, I can't seem to NOT do it. But here's the dilema,, we love them, we do!
BUT>>>
(A) you cant keep them all (even though we believe we are the BEST care takers, EVER!!)
(B) giving them back to the people that put them in jeopardy is hard, but it happens, and we have to do what is legally correct.
So with a lump in my throat, and the desire to shed a tear, I gave that little sweety back to her mom. I hope both of them do well, but I will probably look for her when I see the groups of homeless on the corners.
I moped around the rest of the day, and little Mini seems a tiny bit smug, as if everything is as it should be, and I am behaving foolishly.
The part I don't like about rehabbing, is that you never really do forget an animal you have cared for, and returned to health. We always wonder how they are doing, and where they are.