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Together again: A New York woman is reunited with her dog eight days after a fire destroyed the building he was staying at

TORONTO – One New York woman got some wonderful and unexpected news this past Friday when her dog was found alive, over a week after a devastating fire gutted the Schenectady building he was staying at.

Now Stacy Lydon says she never gave up hope her dog, Zeus, was still alive.

“I never gave up hope. I really didn’t. Without any signs of a body, I would never stop looking for him,” Lydon said in an interview with WNYT News in New York.

Yet the improbable rescue is just the latest turn of fate for Zeus, a rescue dog whose owner didn’t even live in the building which burned down.

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According to police, a fire tore through two buildings on Jay St. in Schenectady almost two weeks ago. Investigators are still working to ascertain what caused the blaze, and have identified two bodies found among the burnt remains.

“Obviously crews are progressing, continuing to try to remove debris and attempting to locate any remains still left inside 104 Jay Street,” said Sgt. Matt Dearing of the Schenectady Police Department.

In a sad twist of irony, Zeus’ owner doesn’t live in the building – a coworker of Lydon was taking care of the dog while she considered whether to adopt him.

“She was interested in adopting him. He was here probably four days when that fire broke out,” said Lydon.

Cut to eight days later, when firefighters made a remarkable discovery: a very nervous dog, peering out from the building’s windows.

”We were able to get up there and lure him out with a little bit of pizza of all things,” said Schenectady Fire Chief Raymond Senecal.

“I don’t even know [how he survived]. It’s incredible,” Lydon said.

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