TOBY's STORY: A Story of Hard Work & Perserverance

WRITTEN BY HALI SELERT Staff Writer

Toby the Tripod is a pup that found his way to Eunoia Rescue in July of 2021. He had originally been trapped in Lexington, South Carolina after having been a stray for who knows how long. When originally rescued, he had an injury to one of his hind legs that ultimately required an amputation. Once he recovered from his surgery, he was transferred to a foster home closer to the rescue. And that’s how Toby the Tripod came to live in Charleston.

Toby spent several months awaiting his forever home with no interest. You see, Toby wasn’t just a normal rescue pup– he was one who wasn’t well socialized prior to rescue. This translated to a severe lack of confidence and uneasiness while in new situations/around new people. Toby’s foster mom, Jamie, was very understanding of this and worked with Toby to build that confidence up! He was making great strides in the later part of 2021.

His foster family was going away for Thanksgiving and planned to board him at a local facility. Unfortunately, on Thanksgiving day, Toby jumped the fence at the boarding facility where he was staying, while an employee was in the yard with him. Unfortunately initial searches for him yielded zero results. Knowing that Toby had to be trapped multiple times in the past, the rescue reached out to local trapper Kerri Lyons for assistance.

Kerri immediately dedicated her time to finding and trapping Toby. She and his foster mom spent hours upon hours walking through the woods, putting out clothes, setting up feeding stations, etc. Kerri put flyers up all over town, distributed them in mailboxes surrounding the area where Toby was known to be, posted all over social media, and set up/broke down traps repeatedly. Kerri did this daily. It didn’t take long for all of Ridgeville to know who Toby was, and that Kerri was working on getting him back.

Kerri quickly learned that social media wasn’t going to get Toby back. Because Toby was so scared of humans, especially humans he didn’t know, having the general public get involved would just make things worse. To top it off, she would have people tell her things like “ leave the dog alone,” “he’s wild,” “he doesn’t want to be caught,” “he’ll never be the same,” “you’re doing something wrong,” etc.

So for months, Kerri worked in private. Most people probably thought she had given up on Toby, but that was far from the truth. The new year came and went, and Toby was still being tracked in the woods. Weather turned from brutally cold to sweltering hot, and still, Kerri followed Toby and learned more about him from afar. It was mid-August 2022 when Kerri changed her approach. She began working on what she calls a “slow build” of a fenced enclosure where he was eating. This approach was definitely the slow and steady route– Toby was smart as a whip and any time something changed, he’d stop eating. And she needed him to keep eating to keep him in one spot.

Over time, the constant food source in the woods attracted stray cats to the area. The cats would eat the food, and Toby would come to tell them off about eating the food that was his. He’d take over eating where they left off. Kerri fed off of this and used it to her advantage– she slowly moved the food bowls into the enclosure she erected in the woods. The enclosure had a spring door that she had control of. She would monitor on the camera and wait for her opportunity to hit the button to close the door with Toby inside. And on November 22, 2022 (3 days shy of a year of Toby being on his own in the wilderness), that opportunity presented itself. Toby followed the cat’s lead, and ate the food that was located in the enclosure. Kerri hit the button, and Toby was officially trapped! She raced to the woods and got there within 30 seconds of the trap shutting. Timing was huge because she had previously attempted a similar trap and Toby escaped before she could get there. She called her husband on the way and he left in the middle of a work meeting to race to her and Toby and help get him out of the woods once and for all.

It’s been a little over 2 months since Toby was captured. He has been staying with Kerri, and honestly we think that they were meant to be. Toby’s never had anyone as dedicated to him as Kerri, and we know he’s safest there. Thanks to Kerri leaving heartworm prevention in his bowl in the woods each month, he’s miraculously heartworm negative. He does have a tick-borne illness, and originally had a few scrapes, but overall he’s in amazing shape.

What Kerri pulled off was nothing short of a miracle. She put in hard work and we’re just so happy that it paid off. The most important takeaway is to not give up. Toby didn’t give up while living in the woods for an entire year. Kerri didn’t give up on catching him. And because of that, they get to live their best lives together–almost as if it was fate.

Kerri Lyons

If this story touched your heart the way it has ours, I’d encourage you to check out Kerri’s Amazon wishlist. She spends her time trapping dogs like Toby out of the kindness of her heart and spends her own money on her supplies. Let’s clear her wishlist so that the burden of helping future pups is lightened! ■