You'd better pour yourself a cup of coffee for this one. The story of how these blind boys made it to the ranch is one of the strangest, and most nerve-wracking, we've ever been involved in. These two dogs — Buddy and Jake — were saved three times along the way. So-called 'rescue groups' betrayed them, and an informal network of attorneys rode to their final rescue.
That's Jake with me in the photo above, taken at the airport in Bozeman, Montana, this afternoon. Here is Buddy:
Their story starts with Odie's Fund, a grantmaking foundation set up by Simone and Greg R. in Washington, D.C. to help with dog rescue. Part of their mission is to help save blind dogs facing euthanasia in animal shelters.
A few months ago, Simone had learned of two blind hound mix boys, Buddy and Jake, who had been abandoned by their owner in what was most likely a foreclosure situation. A caring neighbor had spotted the boys and took them to her local humane society in western North Carolina. The dogs were about to be euthanized.
Simone contacted the humane society and offered to sponsor the dogs with an appropriate rescue group in the area. The humane society told her that a reputable rescue group in nearby Nashville, Tennessee, had stepped up to take the boys and place them in a foster home, and so Simone arranged for Odie's Fund to send grants to pay for their care.
Well, it turns out that the supposedly reputable rescue group had placed the dogs, without Simone's knowledge, in the home of an animal hoarder. Simone found out about this when the hoarder's property was raided by Nashville's Metro Animal Control and more than 60 animals were seized, including — yes — Buddy and Jake.
Simone was horrified to find out what had happened to the dogs she thought she had helped save. She contacted us immediately and asked if we could provide a home for the two boys here if she could get them out of the legal process. (Odie's Fund had already provided the ranch with a generous grant this year for our work with blind dogs.) We agreed to take them, and together, Simone and I tracked the court proceedings as best we could. Finally, the case ended (apparently with a plea agreement of some sort) and the court granted legal custody of the animals to Metro Animal Control.
All along, Simone had been asking the North Carolina humane society to tell Metro Animal Control that the animals had a home at the Rolling Dog Ranch in Montana and that the boys shouldn't be euthanized in Nashville. Nothing came of those requests.
Finally, the day after the court case was settled, Simone and I agreed that I would call Metro Animal Control and ask that Buddy and Jake be released to us. Simone had identified a private boarding kennel in Nashville to take the dogs until we could arrange their trip to Montana.
I reached the Animal Control Officer who had seized Buddy and Jake from the animal hoarder's property, and I explained who we were and how we were involved. Up until then he was not aware of how Buddy and Jake had managed to end up at the hoarder's place. He told me that none of the animals they seized would be going back to the local rescue groups because, he said, these organizations knew about the conditions there. He said they even had a nickname for the animal hoarder: "Stinky." The officer said the rescue groups called her that because she always smelled like dog poop whenever she went to pick up one of their "foster" animals. And yet they continued to use her for this purpose.
The Animal Control Officer sounded very positive about working with us to get Buddy and Jake to Montana, but he said I would have to talk with his supervisor, Judy Ladebauche, the director of Metro Animal Control. He asked me to call her the following Tuesday, when she would be in the office.
I called Ms. Ladebauche that Tuesday but was told she was not available and that I could leave a message for her. I did. One day went by. Then another. I called again. "Not available." I left yet another message. This time the animal control staff person who took my call said, "Oh, is this about the blind dogs?' I thought, well, word is getting around the someone is interested in the welfare of these two dogs.
I found Ms. Ladebauche's email address in a Google search and sent her an email, explaining again who we are, how the dogs ended up there, and that we have a home for them in Montana. Yet more days passed and she still didn't respond to either my email or my earlier calls. Simone also called, left a message, but didn't get a call back either.
I called the Animal Control Officer again — the one who initially had seemed supportive of our efforts — but now I could never get ahold of him. Each time I was told he was also "unavailable."
By this point Simone and I were getting a sick feeling. I had found a Nashville news article online from earlier this year that quoted the same Animal Control Officer as saying the shelter was euthanizing 30-50 animals every day, six days a week. Yes, six days a week.
We were worried that their refusal to respond to us was because they had already killed the two dogs, and just didn't want to admit it.
We realized we were running out of time and out of options.
Finally, Simone contacted a friend who works for a major law firm in Washington, D.C. Her friend put her in touch with a senior attorney at the firm, who happened to know another attorney who was a partner at a law firm in Nashville. Within hours, that Nashville attorney placed a call to Ms. Ladebauche who … amazing, isn't it? … agreed to take his call. Suddenly, Ms. Ladebauche was very willing to have the dogs go to Montana, and all she needed was someone to come right over to animal control and fill out the paperwork!
After weeks of stonewalling, all it took was a single phone call from a Nashville attorney to get her attention.
As luck would have it, the senior attorney in Washington also had an uncle in Nashville, who was himself a retired attorney. The retired attorney graciously offered to go to animal control to sign the paperwork, and then he picked up Buddy and Jake the following day and took them to Crossroads, a wonderful private boarding kennel Simone had arranged for them.
At long last, they were truly safe. Had it not been for these attorneys, this would not have happened.
While I worked out the travel arrangements last week, Simone purchased crates and had them delivered to the boarding kennel. Crossroads took excellent care of the boys, provided the vet care they needed, and kept us updated on their condition. Gina C. from Crossroads even offered to take them to the Nashville airport for us, and then called today to make sure they got here safely!
We flew Buddy and Jake from Nashville yesterday evening to Minneapolis on Northwest Airlines, overnighted them at a boarding facility, and then flew them on to Bozeman, Montana this afternoon. I drove down to Bozeman (about three hours from the ranch) to pick them up. My brother Mike, who recently moved to the Bozeman area from Florida, kindly came out to the airport to help me with the boys. Mike also took the photos above of me with Buddy and Jake.
They are very sweet dogs, clearly love people, and are quite affectionate. Buddy definitely has more hound in him and is the bigger of the two. It's hard to tell from the photo, but Jake has a wire-haired coat to some extent … and less hound. Both are very handsome guys!
I drove them from Bozeman to Helena, where I dropped them off at our vet clinic for eye exams, blood panels, and the usual oil/lube/filter work. We will bring them home to the ranch next week.
And that is the story of how Buddy and Jake came to Montana!
Here is a final photo of the newly arrived pair, back in their crates just before we left Bozeman for Helena:
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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