Dog escapes Seattle-bound flight at RDU, reunited with owner

A dog meant to board an Alaska Airlines flight for Seattle has been reunited with his owner days after escaping during the loading process at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

According to Alaska Airlines, the dog, named "Moose," belonged to a passenger. Moose was supposed to board the flight with his owner on Tuesday, but he did not make the flight and spent the night at RDU.

A spokesperson for Alaska Airlines said: "Due to a misstep in the loading process, the dog did not make the trip. It stayed with our team at the airport overnight."

After spending the night at RDU, Moose was taken for a walk Wednesday morning before he was supposed to board a flight to Seattle.

"When it was time to load it into the crate, it pulled away, shook loose from its collar and ran away," Alaska Airlines said.

Officers heard on Broadcastify radio traffic indicate Moose was running along a taxiway at one point during the chase.

"They are trying to round the dog up right now between the new parking area and Terminal 2 ... chasing the dog on the taxiway right now," WRAL News heard on radio traffic.

WRAL News asked Alaska Airlines for clarification on how a dog could escape during loading. A spokesperson said cargo needs to be loaded a certain way but wouldn’t share specifics on what happened with Moose.

On Wednesday the dog's owner returned to Raleigh to help search for Moose. Alasksa Airlines paid for the flight.

On Thursday an RDU spokesperson said RDU Operations, law enforcement and fire-rescue located Moose, who "is safe and sound and had a good breakfast courtesy of an RDU K9 officer."

Luckily, the chaos didn’t disrupt any flights, and no one was hurt.

Traveler Marilyn Idriss told WRAL News she experienced something similar when she was a child at a Michigan airport. 

"The dog was on a collar and got real scared and got loose outside the Detroit airport," Idriss said, adding she believes Moose was scared. "A frightened animal will do what they have to do to escape."

On Thursday, Cary Animal Services posted a "good news" story about a lost dog spotted in traffic multiple times in Cary who, after multiple attempts, was finally brought to safety by a man who did not chase the dog but instead lured it with pieces of steak.

"Skittish dogs are notoriously hard to catch," the post read. "This pup was young and would never settle in one place long enough for us to put a plan in place."

Regarding Moose's escape at RDU, travelers on Thursday said they are shocked this happened.

"I feel like it's kind of irresponsible," said Maitland Groff, a traveler.

"I would just be heartbroken," added Kate Hayes. "You trust the airport to get it across. If he didn't make it, I'd be really sad."

WRAL News is working to learn how officers were able to finally catch Moose and get him reunited with his owner.