By Daniela Caride Publisher

By Steve Smith*

Last February, the police department in Conrad, Mont., found a blind Yellow Labrador Retriever wandering on Interstate 15. Yes, someone had abandoned a blind dog near an interstate in the middle of winter.

Alayne and Moose. (Photo courtesy of Rolling Dog Ranch Sanctuary)

The Conrad police department brought the dog to the local animal shelter and kept him there while they tried to find his owner.

They ran advertisements and radio spots, but nobody showed up looking for him. While he was in the kennel, the police officers would take him with them on their rounds at night to exercise him.

After a month, with no luck finding his owner or an adopter, the Conrad police chief asked if we could take the dog at Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary. We agreed, and the chief found someone to drive the dog to Helena, Mont.

We founded the Rolling Dog ranch in 2000. Our dream was to turn these 160 acres of open grassland and cottonwoods into a sanctuary for disabled animals — the least likely to be adopted and among the most likely to be euthanized in shelters. The ranch is now home to about 70 animals, nearly two-thirds of them blind.

Rolling Dog Ranch Sanctuary, in Montana. (Photo courtesy of Rolling Dog Ranch Sanctuary)

We named the ranch the “Rolling Dog” because our dogs love to roll around on their backs in the sagebrush- and grass-covered meadows on the property. Some of the  dogs are always rolling around upside-down, feet straight up in the air, scratching their backs in the fields. No animal here feels self-pity. All of them are happy, energetic and loving, and they are grateful to be alive.

Visitors can’t believe the animals romping with each other and running around are blind or coping with a disability. That’s the ultimate inspiration for us. Despite their disabilities, they want nothing more than a chance to enjoy life, and that’s what they get here.

With Moose, the abandoned Yellow Lab, it was no different. Despite his massive frame and 99 pounds (that’s why he was named “Moose” by our vet), this affable, lumbering dog gets along with everyone. Because we could tell right away how well he would do, we brought him right into the house with us after picking him up at the vet.

He walked through the rooms, checked things out, nosed a few of the dogs, and then found a bed in the living room and laid down on it. He was home.

After being abandoned to fend for himself in a brutal winter, this blind boy is now safe and sound with us, thanks to the Conrad Police Department, who did everything they could to help him, and thanks to all of you who support the ranch with gifts.

* Steve Smith and Alayne Marker run Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary, in Ovando, Mont.

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Update: Click here to find out what happened to Moose!