Five-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey was forced to shoot a moose after it injured one of his dogs shortly after the start of the famed annual long-distance sled dog race in Alaska, according to the Associated Press.
Seavey, who said he shot the moose with a handgun in self-defense, gutted the moose in accordance with Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race rules, which state, “In the event that an edible big-game animal is killed in defense of life or property, the musher must gut the animal and report the incident to a race official at the next checkpoint.”
Seavey and his dogs became “entangled“ with the moose around 2 a.m. Monday about 50 miles from their next checkpoint, according to Iditarod officials. Upon arriving to the checkpoint, Seavey dropped off the injured dog, which was flown to Anchorage for an evaluation with a veterinarian.
