Cats have nine lives, but what about dogs? Dog named "Lazarus" has cheated death -- twice!

ALABAMA (WITI) -- A dog from Alabama has proven that it's not just cats that have nine lives! The abandoned mutt has somehow cheated death -- twice!

That has earned him the nickname "Lazarus," and a new home!

Lazarus was brought to the Ozark City Animal Shelter in August after his owners said they couldn't care for him.

The dog was suffering injuries after he was hit by a car.

The shelter tried and failed to find anyone willing to adopt him, and Lazarus was scheduled to be euthanized.

That didn't go according to plan!

The "lethal injection" had no effect on the dog!

"The animals are normally injected by their weight. He was injected with the right amount of medication that should have had him go to sleep. Unfortunately, or actually fortunately for everybody else, here he was. He's back up and breathing and going about his business like it's nothing. This, for the most part, is a fluke. Like I said, we have the veterinarian come down. He double checks and triple checks the animals before he leaves. His body overcame and he had a will to live and somehow, some way he made it through," Captain Bobby Blankenship with the Ozark Police Department said.

"It just seemed real obvious. It came to me really quickly. You know, Lazarus died and three days later was raised from the dead. And I thought, 'boy, that's too appropriate,'" Sonya King with the Two by Two Animal Rescue said.

Lazarus seems to be unscathed after his recent brushes with death.

"He's not skittish. He's not afraid of anything, anybody, any sound. I mean, it's just amazing what all he has clearly been through. He's great with cats, kids, dogs. Lazarus was the best dog that that I have ever seen," Lazarus' foster mother, Jane Holston said.

We're told Lazarus is now enjoying his dog days with a new family at home in Birmingham, Alabama.