Resilient dog survives being hit by a car and euthanasia attempt

A dog who survived being hit by a car and a euthanasia attempt has been dubbed Lazarus, after the man in the Bible said to have been brought back to life by Jesus.

Animal control officer Wanda Snell has another name for him: "I call him Houdini," she told The Associated Press.

Lazarus was dropped off at the Ozark City Animal Shelter by his owner on Aug. 19, after being hit by a car. He was cut and the pad on his left rear foot was missing. Efforts to find a home via social media were unsuccessful, and was set to be euthanized Sept. 10. Snell was with Lazarus when a vet injected him with a chemical that would kill him, and when she left for the night, she thought he was dead.

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The next morning, Snell found him alive, having made his way to an outdoor pen. No one is sure how he survived, although it's possible that the vet did not have the right dose of the drug to put Lazarus to sleep. Volunteer Cortney Blankenship has her own theory: "His body overcame and he had a will to live and somehow, someway he made it through," she told AP.

The mixed breed dog is not completely out of the woods yet; he has a case of heartworm and is on medication, and his leg is still in a cast. For now, Lazarus is living with a foster family in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, spending his days playing with another rescue dog.