Lulu, Dog Buried Alive In Georgia, Leaves Hole In Heart

TUCKER, GA — From the minute Eric Purdue heard a noise, then glimpsed a snout and two eyes staring at him from the hole where the dog had been buried alive, he wanted to make Lulu a part of his family. Purdue used his bare hands to dig the Chow-mix dog out of her tomb along a Tucker trail, his son and nephew joined in the frantic effort to free the dog who was immobilized and left for dead.

Purdue found Lulu June 6 on an ATV trail near Rock Mountain Boulevard and Lewis Road, where she may have been left for several days. He raced the dog to receive emergency veterinary care. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

"It's OK, baby. We're going to get you out. We'll get you out baby,” he crooned to the dog. Once she was freed, Purdue, of DeKalb County, took the abandoned dog he instantly named Lulu home, where she received multiple baths and constant petting until the family went to bed.

He planned to adopt the dog, but she died at the veterinarian's office a day later from her injuries suffered during the estimated two days she was trapped. "I visualized the dog riding around with me in my truck. ... I think about her a lot,” Purdue told WXIA.

A month has passed since Lulu was found buried alive, but there are still no leads in the case that PETA officials called torture. The animal group has doubled its reward for leads on whoever abused the canine to $10,000 in hopes that someone reports her owner.

"This dirt, I mean, it was packed in," Purdue told WSB-TV. "It was ridiculous. Somebody took a lot of time to do a terrible thing."

He walks along the trail daily, and says Lulu's hole remains, but he plans to fill it in soon. The pain of knowing what the dog endured, and what might have been, is a constant ache.

“There's a hole here, too,” he told WXIA as he pointed at his chest. “Everyone in my house has a hole in their heart because of this—everyone in my family was traumatized by it. But the dog was loved beyond measure for the last 24 hours of her life.”

Purdue's family will host a benefit starting at 9 p.m. July 8 in Lulu's honor at the Star Community Bar in Little Five Points. Proceeds from the Justice for Lulu gathering will be donated to the Lifeline Animal Project, which helps abused dogs.

PETA, which shared the story on its website, agrees with Purdue's description of Lulu's horrible last hours.

"Someone tortured this dog by packing her in dirt, where she couldn’t move, drink, or escape the terror of being buried alive," said PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien. "PETA urges anyone with information about this case to come forward immediately so that whoever buried this dog can be held responsible and stopped from hurting anyone else."

Lulu was covered in ants and probably only alive when Purdue found her because of rain and relatively cool temperatures in the area at the time, he told WSB.

DeKalb County Animal Services is investigating the incident. Anyone with information in the case is asked to call animal control at 404-294-2939.

PETA encourages dog owners to keep dogs safely indoors and never leave them unattended in outdoor areas where they could be taken or harmed by someone. Dogs should always be accompanied outdoors and escorted on walks on a comfortable, secure harness and leash, the group says.

Photos courtesy of Eric Purdue