A legendary musher shot and killed a moose shortly after the start of the 2024 Iditarod after the moose injured one of his dogs, race officials said Monday.
Dallas Seavey, a record-tying five-time Iditarod winner, told officials with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early Monday morning that he was forced to shoot the moose with a handgun out of self-defense, “after the moose became entangled with the dogs and the musher,” a statement from the race said.
Advertisement
Seavey told an Iditarod Insider television crew he then “gutted it the best I could, but it was ugly.”
According to Iditarod Rule 34, if an edible big game animal — like a moose, caribou or buffalo — is killed in defense of life or property, the musher is required to gut the animal and report it to race officials at the next checkpoint. Mushers who follow must help gut the animal when possible and no teams may pass until the animal is gutted and the musher gutting the animal has proceeded. Any other animal killed in defense of life or property must be reported to a race official but is not required to be gutted.
Race Marshal Warren Palfrey said officials “are making sure that every attempt is made to utilize and salvage the moose meat,” according to the statement.
Seavey encountered the moose 14 miles outside of the Skwentna checkpoint, roughly 80 miles from the starting point in the 975-mile race. When he reached the next checkpoint at Finger Lake, Seavey dropped off his injured dog who was immediately flown to Anchorage and, as of Monday, was being evaluated by veterinarians there.
On Tuesday, Seavey’s X, formerly known as Twitter, account posted an update saying that the injured dog, Faloo, had surgery and is in critical condition.
Faloo Update:
Due to an angry moose on the trail, Faloo was flown into Anchorage and was taken to an Anchorage Vet Clinic. She is out of surgery and remains in critical condition. We promise to keep you all updated once we receive more updates.
We appreciate all of the prayers. pic.twitter.com/E4mkPaDWx0
— Dallas Seavey (@DallasSeavey) March 5, 2024
Musher Susan Butcher came in contact with a moose during the Iditarod in 1985, according to the AP. The moose killed two of her dogs and injured 13 others. She used her axe and a parka to fend it off before another musher came along and killed the moose.
Moose are the world’s largest member of the deer family with adult moose ranging in size from 800 pounds (small adult female) to 1,600 pounds (large adult male), and they can be up to almost 6 feet tall. While moose, which are prevalent in Alaska, are not normally aggressive, they can be dangerous if provoked or confronted, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Advertisement
A musher is allowed to start the race with a maximum of 16 dogs and minimum of 12, per race rules. A musher must finish with at least five dogs on the towline, and no dogs can be added to a team after the start of the race. Dog deaths during the Iditarod occur for many reasons including injury, illness or frostbite.
Dog safety became a point of emphasis after five dogs died and eight were injured in collisions with snowmobiles while training on shared, multi-use trails shortly before this year’s race, per the AP. At the Iditarod start, mushers could grab light-up, neon harnesses or necklaces for their dogs for greater visibility. Mushers typically wear a bright headlamp for visibility, but that doesn’t protect lead dogs running nearly 60 feet ahead.
Two of Seavey’s dogs were killed and three others sustained compound fractures or lost limbs in a November 2023 crash. While training on the Denali Highway, which is approximately 260 miles north of Anchorage by car, one of Seavey’s teams was hit by a snowmachine traveling 65 miles in the opposite direction, Seavey said on social media.
Iditarod 52, which stretches from Anchorage to Nome, started March 3 in Willow, Alaska. It takes mushers around 10 days to complete the race. There are 38 mushers competing this year.
As of Tuesday morning, Seavey and his 15 remaining dogs were in first place. With a sixth Iditarod victory, Seavey would become the most decorated musher of all time.
(Photo: Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
