Abused Florence dog's death inspires memorial fund

The story of a Labrador retriever abused and starved to death in Florence has inspired the creation of an abused animal fund more than than 80 miles away from the county in which his story began.

The Lazarus Fund was established this spring in West Columbia by Pets Inc., a not-for-profit rescue group that cared for the dog in whose memory the fund was named.

Florence animal advocates named him Lazarus after a biblical man who was resurrected from the dead by Jesus, said Nola Armstrong, a Pets Inc. volunteer who met Lazarus and established the fund.

A starving and weak Lazarus was discovered in November in the back yard of a middle-class home near Carolinas Hospital System in Florence. He was so weak, he couldn’t walk and had to be carried on a stretcher, Armstrong said.

“The owner stated that she had fed the dog last week and she’d hope somebody would kill it,” Armstrong said.

The owner pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges and was fined $2,500.

The dog was taken to a Florence veterinarian, who said it would be best to euthanize the animal because of the extent of his injuries and neglect. The dog weighed about 32 pounds at the time of his rescue; the normal weight for a dog his breed is 85 pounds, Armstrong said.

But Florence Area Human Society volunteers couldn’t bring themselves to go through with the procedure because the dog, whom they’d since named Lazarus, showed a will to live despite his condition.

“He raised his head and wagged his tail. The vets, no one wanted to put him down. They said, ‘We’ve got to give him a chance,’” Armstrong said.

Lazarus stayed at the animal hospital for more than a month before he was transferred to a foster home where he experienced love — quite possibly for the first time in his life, Armstrong said.

His condition improved and he began to gain weight, but he never made a full recovery.

In March, Lazarus was transferred into the care of Pets Inc. in Columbia after he no longer could be cared for in a local foster home.

“Staff and volunteers fell in love with him. He lived in the office, they called him Lazzie,” Armstrong said. “They took him for walks. He had a special bed made out of down comforters, but pretty soon we came to realized he had a hard time walking.”

After three weeks, Lazarus didn’t want to be touched because he was in so much pain. A veterinarian later confirmed the starvation had taken its toll on Lazarus’ bones and made them so brittle that they couldn’t support the weight he’d gained, Armstrong said.

His muscles also had deteriorated because of the abuse he’d suffered.

“We had to face the fact ... we wanted to save him because he was such a wonderful, dear soul, we had to make a tough decision,” Armstrong said. “I guess his cruel owner’s wish had finally come true.”
Lazarus was euthanized in April and the fund was established in his name soon after.

“He deserved it. He got so short-changed in his life,” Armstrong said. “For what it’s worth, from January to April, he had 100 percent love and he responded well to it. (But) his body couldn’t ever come back from the starvation.”

Lazarus learned what it felt like to be loved from his rescuers, but Armstrong said his rescuers also learned something from him.

“We learned about trust and love and hope because he really tried, he wanted to live,” she said.

Animal rescue volunteers hope Lazarus’ story will inspire people to be more vigilant, caring and help stop animal abuse, Armstrong said.

Donations to The Lazarus Fund can be sent to Pets Inc., P.O. Box 6394, West Columbia, SC 29171.

— Staff writer Jamie Rogers can be reached at (843) 317-7266.