Steven Maa was moving from New Jersey to California with his dog, Rocky. He stopped in Montezuma, Colorado, on December 28 for a bit of skiing. He left Rocky with a pet sitter, but unfortunately, he got spooked and ran off, NJ.com reported. Steven and his partner, Kate, searched for Rocky in a snowstorm until 3 a.m., but could not find him. Sadly, Steven didn’t think he’d ever see Rocky again, but reached out to Summit Lost Pet Rescue to see if they could help. Founder Brandon Ciullo told NJ.com he did his best to calm Steven’s fears.
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“Steve was definitely concerned that Rocky wasn’t going to survive the night,” Brandon said. “I explained to him, we’ve been doing this for 10 years. My biggest worry and concern is vehicles, then wildlife and then environment.”
Steven Thought He’d Never See Rocky Again
It took more than a month, but Steven got a call about Rocky that positively shocked him.
Brandon said he was out on a call for another missing dog when he got a notification that someone spotted Rocky on their Ring camera.
“I apologized to the owner and said, ‘I need to respond to Montezuma. This dog has been missing for 43 days, and I’m sure it is extremely starving and very, very close to dying.’ So, we drove up there,” Brandon said.
When Brandon finally got Rocky back to the rescue, he felt so relieved.
“He was running around. He went straight to the toy bin,” Ciullo said. “We couldn’t believe that this dog that hasn’t probably eaten in 43 days had this much energy and this much life to him.”
Steven felt so relieved when he finally held Rocky again.
“It didn’t seem like his personality or his emotions had changed at all, so that was super comforting to see and surprising,” Maa said. “I feel like he jumped straight back into his old personality and just being a cuddle bug.”
Brandon said this is one rescue he’ll never forget.
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