Musher kills, guts moose after encounter with dog at Iditarod - ESPN

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A veteran musher had to kill a moose after it injured one of his dogs shortly after the start of this year's Iditarod, race officials said Monday.

Dallas Seavey informed the officials with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early Monday morning that he was forced to shoot the moose with a handgun in self-defense.

This came «after the moose became entangled with the dogs and the musher,» a statement from the race said.

Seavey, who is tied for the most Iditarod wins ever at five, said he urged officials to get the moose off the trail.

«It fell on my sled, it was sprawled on the trail,» Seavey told an Iditarod Insider television crew. «I gutted it the best I could, but it was ugly.»

Seavey, who turned 37 years old on Monday, is not the first musher to have to kill a moose during an Iditarod. In 1985, the late Susan Butcher was leading the race when she used her ax and a parka to fend off a moose, but it killed two of her dogs and injured 13 others. Another musher came along and killed the moose.

Butcher had to quit that race but went on to win four Iditarods. She died from leukemia in 2006 at the age of 51.

This year's race started Sunday afternoon in Willow, about 75 miles (121 kilometers) north of Anchorage. Seavey encountered the moose just before 2 a.m. Monday, 14 miles (22 kilometers) outside the race checkpoint in Swenta, en route to the next checkpoint 50 miles (80 kilometers) away in Finger Lake.

Seavey arrived in Finger Lake later Monday, where he dropped off a dog that was injured in the moose encounter. The dog was flown to Anchorage, where it was being evaluated by a veterinarian.

Alaska State Troopers were informed of the dead moose, and race officials said every effort was being made to