Miracle Dog Named Lazarus Survives Euthanasia Attempt

Lazarus sits with his new owner, Jane Holston

Jay Reeves/AP

By Associated Press

10/06/2014 AT 07:10 PM EDT

Animal control officer Wanda Snell knows what she saw: A veterinarian inserted a needle into the black-and-brown mutt and injected a chemical meant to euthanize the dog no one had adopted. The animal moved a bit and was still and quiet by the time she left the shelter for home.

What Snell can't explain is how or why a mixed-breed dog that nobody wanted recovered overnight and has since bounced back fully from what should have been a lethal injection.

Less than a month later, the dog lives with a family in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, where the animal romps and plays with another rescue dog. His survival seemed all the more surprising since the same dog had already been struck by a car before arriving at the Ozark City Animal Shelter.

A rescue worker who retrieved the roughly 4-year-old male dog after the failed procedure named him "Lazarus," after the man the Bible says Jesus brought back to life. Snell has another name for that escape artist of a dog. "I call him Houdini," she said.

No one connected with the shelter is exactly sure what happened to prevent Lazarus's death, and officials declined to release the name of the contract veterinarian who performed the injection.

Shelter volunteer Cortney Blankenship has an idea, however. "His body overcame and he had a will to live and somehow, some way he made it through," said Blankenship.

Records show the dog arrived at the shelter on Aug. 19 after being dropped off by his owner, who Blankenship said was moving and could no longer care for him. The animal was cut and bloody after being struck by a car and a pad on his left rear foot was missing.

Blankenship tried to find a rescue home through social media, but no one stepped up to adopt. So the dog's scheduled date with death arrived on Sept. 10.

Snell said the vet arrived late that afternoon to euthanize animals due to be put to sleep. Snell said she accompanied the veterinarian and witnessed the entire procedure. The dog moved a bit when injected, almost as if fighting the drug before he quieted and was still, Snell said. The animal was left for dead inside a pen, his body to be removed later.

But when Snell arrived for work the next morning, she saw the dog standing in an outdoor pen linked to the interior kennel. The dog had walked out and helped himself to some water.

Lazarus plays with another dog at his new home in Helena, Alabama

Jay Reeves / AP

"He was back up and breathing and going right about business like it's nothing," said Ozark police Capt. Bobby Blankenship, who supervises the city shelter and is Cortney Blankenship's father.

Dr. Robert Lofton of the veterinary school at Auburn University said such cases are rare. While he hasn't examined the dog and wasn't involved in his handling, Lofton said the dog's survival could have resulted from an improper dose of the drug used or possibly a vein that dodged the needle tip.

Once Cortney Blankenship posted the story on Facebook, the dog's fortunes changed. The animal was claimed by another rescue group leader who turned it over to a family living about 160 miles away.

Jane Holston of Helena is now serving as Lazarus's foster mother. The dog has been diagnosed with a dangerous case of heart worms but is on medication. And the leg damaged from the car accident is in a cast and on the mend.

"He's not skittish, he's not afraid of anything, anybody, any sounds. I mean, it's just amazing what all he has been through," Holston said.