Dog lived for a month in burnt out house

A US woman cried tears of joy after finding her dog alive in the ruins of her house - a month after it was burnt out in a fire.

Terisa Acevedo initially thought Lola, her year-old long-haired dachshund, had escaped the blaze, reports the Boston Herald.

In the days after the fire, the 24-year-old student posted fliers on telegraph poles and walked the neighbourhood hoping to find her dog.

But as the days turned into weeks, Miss Acevedo began to think that Lola must have perished in the fire.

This week, she returned to the house and heard a scratching noise at the boarded-up front door. She immediately knew it was Lola.

Miss Acevedo yelled out her pet's name and with the help of friends, tore the plywood off the entrance.

"It was a miracle," she said, hugging her dog at the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital, where Lola is being nursed back to health.

"There was not one day that went by that I didn't think about her, that my eyes would tear up - I missed her so much."

Dr Anya Gambino says Lola is in good health considering she survived a fire and spent 27 days trapped in the house, scavenging for food and water.

"It's something I've never seen before. And this I would categorise if she was my dog - miraculous," she said.