The Best Miracle Ever!

Video: N.J. 'Miracle Dog' Daniel appears on Anderson Cooper's daytime TV show

Published: Sunday, December 04, 2011, 3:58 PM | Updated: Sunday, December 04, 2011, 3:58 PM

By Ryan Hutchins/The Star-Ledger

NEW YORK — Daniel, the “miracle” beagle who earlier this year survived an Alabama gas chamber, made his first stop on the talk show circuit Friday.

The dog and his new owners, a family from Nutley, appeared on “Anderson,” a new afternoon show hosted by Anderson Cooper. The syndicated program aired locally on WPIX-TV.

Daniel, named for the biblical figure who survived the lion’s den, explored Cooper’s TV set as owners Joe and Geralynn Dwyer recounted the dog’s story.

Daniel, was a stray left at a pound in Florence, Ala. In September, officials at the facility decided to euthanize him along with several other dogs. The other canines were killed by the noxious fumes of a gas chamber, but Daniel walked out unharmed, according to the animal control officer who tried to put him down.

In October, word of Daniel's survival spread through a network of animal rescue groups and eventually made it to New Jersey. Rockaway-based Eleventh Hour Rescue arranged to have Daniel flown to New Jersey by a group named Pilots N Paws.

Since his arrival in the Garden State, Daniel's story has become the subject of international news. Hundreds of websites, blogs and TV networks have reported on the “miracle dog,” but the Dwyers have promised he won’t be exploited; the dog’s priority in life is to have a good time.