Miracle Dog Presumed Dead Wakes From Coma

A young beagle is being called the “miracle pup” after the dog woke up from a coma even though it had been presumed dead.

The dog, who has been named Lazarus, was hit by a car in late January and picked up as roadkill by the sanitation department.

The dog was put in a bag and sent to the Washington-Wilkes Humane Animal Shelter for incineration.

Just before the dog was set for cremation, shelter director Gloria Wheatley checked to see if the animal matched the description of any missing pets.

“I shut the bag real quick because I didn’t believe what I was seeing,” Wheatley said, upon discovering the dog was still alive. “In 14 years (of handling dead animals), it’s the first time this has ever happened, believe you me.”

The dog was then taken to a veterinarian, who found it cold and unresponsive. Even though the doctor gave Lazarus little chance of surviving through the night, veterinary technician Becki Walker volunteered to provide care for it.

Walker gave Lazarus his Bible-inspired name and stayed by his side throughout the next day, monitoring his condition and holding him. After two days, Lazarus was still in a coma, but his brain showed signs of activity. Walker put food in a syringe and fed it to the dog.

The paralyzed animal’s back legs began to move. After three days, the dog was on his feet but suffered motor skill problems from his brain injury.

“This is a unique situation of an animal that had enough heart and guts to keep going every day,” Walker said.

When a vet asked Duluth resident Linda Blauch to take Lazarus as a foster dog after he was ready to be released from the hospital, she readily agreed.

“I was absolutely going to take him,” Blauch said. “The details came later, though.”

When he first arrived at Blauch’s home, Lazarus would walk around in circles to the right. He yawned a lot, his tongue stuck out and he walked around with a dazed look in his eyes.

“He was not responsive to me or the other dogs,” said Blauch, president of the Companion Animal Rescue League. “Gradually, he became more puppyish. Food has always been his No. 1 motivator. Beagles are like eating machines and will eat and eat and eat until they become sick. If it were any other breed, I’m sure he’d still be in a coma. The first time I heard him bark was at dinner time.”

Now, the dog can walk normally, though he still has a tendency to walk in circles. The next step for Lazarus is to be neutered for adoption, but his veterinarian does not feel that he is strong enough to be put under for the operation yet. And Blauch isn’t in any hurry.

“He’s a smart little boy,” she said. “He’s our little miracle pup.”