One weekend afternoon in central Louisiana, a group of kids playing near their apartment complex heard faint cries drifting from the nearby woods. Curious and concerned, they followed the sound through the trees until something bright caught their eye — a red collar glinting between the branches.
What they found was heartbreaking. A thin, frightened brown dog sat padlocked to a bamboo tree, a heavy chain wrapped around his neck. He had no food or water, and one of his eyes was badly injured and missing.
The children immediately told an adult, and word soon reached local rescuer Keri Bullock Toth. With animal control unable to respond until Monday, Toth knew the dog couldn’t wait.
She and a friend rushed to the scene to help.
Toth’s friend carefully approached the dog to assess the situation. Despite everything he’d been through, the dog didn’t growl or act aggressively. He seemed unsure and scared, but gentle. She offered him food, then bent the bamboo tree back and forth until it snapped, freeing the chain.
Though nervous, the dog allowed her to guide him out of the woods. That same night, Toth took him in — even though her rescue was already full and she had no funds for medical care.
The next morning, she reached out to Denise Gutnisky, founder of Mardi Paws, asking if they could help with veterinary expenses.
“She called me and said, ‘Denise, would y’all be willing to pay for that?’” Gutnisky told The Dodo. “And I said, ‘Absolutely.’”
At the vet, the dog — now named Red Vern — received a full exam, vaccinations, antibiotics and stitches to treat his eye injury.
Despite the chaos and unfamiliar surroundings, his sweet nature never wavered.
“He was nervous and flinched sometimes, especially on the side where his eye was injured,” Gutnisky said. “It’s clear he lost that eye due to trauma.”
Now safe in a foster home, Red Vern is learning what it means to be loved. He enjoys resting his head in laps and cuddling so much that it’s hard to catch him doing anything else.
“He’s a total cuddle bug,” Gutnisky said. “And the way he hesitates going through doors makes us think he probably lived outside his whole life.”
Red Vern will remain with his foster family while he completes heartworm treatment. After that, he’ll head to his forever home — a family has already applied to give him the life he’s always deserved.
If you’d like to support dogs like Red Vern, you can donate through Scott’s Wish, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping people and animals in urgent need.
