IT’S a happy ending that wasn’t supposed to happen for a big eared, doe-eyed beagle.

    Now, the dog that was found as a stray in Alabama and defied death, is searching for a new home.

    Three weeks ago, the beagle was euthanized along with 18 other dogs at an overcrowded animal shelter in Florence, Alabama. But to the shock of everyone he somehow survived.

    When the animal control officer in charge of the operation returned to the locked chamber he found the dog waiting at the door, wagging its tail. The other dogs were dead.

    His amazing survival has attracted several charitable groups to come to his aid to make sure he isn’t sent back into the gas chamber. He found a temporary home in Tennessee with Karen Rudolph, who runs Schnauzer Savers Rescue of West Tennessee.

    Rudolph dubbed him Daniel, inspired by the biblical story of Daniel, who walked out of a lion’s den unscathed. When Rudolph took Daniel to see her veterinarian, he received a clean bill of health.

    “Amazingly, not only did he survive the gas chamber which is very rare, he was not sick,” Rudolph said.

    Daniel is underweight and his immune system is slightly compromised, but otherwise he is in good health, said Eleventh Hour Rescue president Linda Schiller said. Schiller’s group is trying to find a home for Daniel.

    The beagle is now staying with Eleventh Hour volunteer Jill Pavlik until the organization finds an appropriate home for him.

    She’s his new foster mom while they search for the perfect home.

    Schiller isn’t worried about finding a new home for Daniel, who is highly adoptable due to his celebrity status. In fact, just an hour after the Star Ledger newspaper first covered the story, Schiller had received over 200 e-mails interested in Daniel, and the attention hasn’t slowed down since.

    But she hopes at least some of the applicants will be interested in adopting other dogs.

    “We have dogs that are just as wonderful as him that were on death row,” Schiller said. “They’re happy and they’re wagging their tales and ready to be adopted.” (SD-Agencies)