On October 3rd, the beagle was  placed into a gas chamber for euthanization, along with 18 other dogs at an animal shelter in Florence, Alabama.

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 with her husband Michael.

Rudolph dubbed him Daniel, inspired by the biblical story of Daniel, who walked out of a lion’s den unscathed. Eleventh Hour Rescue, which brought Daniel to New Jersey with the help of Pilots and Paws, gave the dog the last name “Milagro,” meaning miracle in Spanish.

When Rudolph took Daniel Milagro 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. “It was almost as though angels pulled him out of there and he didn’t even breathe the gas.”

At 20 pounds, Daniel is underweight and his immune system is slightly compromised, but otherwise he is in good health.