Raleigh mother, son crushed after seeing emotional support dog run away, get adopted by Virginia family

There was a recent break when they found their dog, but now they're having trouble getting it back.

A local woman adopted a boxer mix from the Wake County Animal Center in January 2023. Several months later, the dog got loose and ended up back where he started at the shelter.

And although the dog was microchipped, he's now with a new family in Virginia.

An empty water bowl sits by the door, cherished dog toys were scattered across the room and a comfy dog bed was empty on Monday.

"Every memory that I have of him, every picture, every video that I have I make sure that I keep it all just to hold myself together," said Elijah. "It's been difficult, but I'm trying."

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Doctors had suggested an emotional support animal would help his anxiety. And it did.

"I started to go out more, I started to get more active, my grades started to improve because I was just overall a lot more happy," Bostick said. "Jack made my life completely, 100 percent better."

"My son, his personality just blossomed and he opened up," Lisa said. "He was more social, more verbal, he was more active outdoors, more academically sound. He slept better at night."

But then Jack disappeared Sept. 23.

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"I closed the door thinking Jack had run up the stairs so I'm in the house and then I'm "Jack, it's time to eat," Lisa said.

That kicked off a frantic search for the 3-year old, tan boxer mix.

The shelter said he wasn't there.

Then on Dec. 29, a clue.

But it was also the beginning of a frustrating battle.

"Home Again said they were not able to give me any information because an adoption had taken place," Bostick said.

Police told her Jack's new owner in Virginia got the dog from Arcadia Animal Rescue, a group that pulled Jack from the Wake County Animal Center Nov. 28.

Initially, the Wake County Animal Center told us there was no way Jack was there.

Jack had been at the shelter all along. He was taken there Sept. 23, the day he went missing. He had a new name, "Mr. Magguu."

A spokesperson for the Wake County Animal Center said the chip was missed twice, once by animal control, the second time by the shelter.

The shelter says, "according to the Animal Center Director, the dogs do not look similar. One was listed as a boxer and one as a German Shepherd/Boxer mix. It would have been easy for staff not to match up these images."

Jack was on the adoption floor for two months. He arrived Sept. 23, but the shelter closed Oct. 6 due to canine influenza. Bostick says her son had checked the website but didn't see Jack. Her phone records show she called the shelter multiple times after Jack disappeared, five times in the first three days.

"Wake County was completely in the wrong," Lisa said. "Listening to the fact that I have low vision, I am legally blind. I'm in need of help. You assured me that you pulled the picture of Jack and scanned it against every dog."

"I just want my dog back," Elijah said. "I don't have any type of malice towards them. I don't have any type of hurt or harmful things to say against them. It's not their fault. They just wanted a dog. I can see why they chose Jack."

But the shelter said there is nothing they can do. After the five-day stray hold, Jack belonged to the shelter, and then he was legally transferred to the rescue who found him a home.