Iditarod officials have imposed a two-hour time penalty on five-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey for not properly gutting a moose he killed during the race earlier this week. The incident occurred about 12 hours after the race officially started, when Seavey encountered the moose while leaving the Skwentna checkpoint. He used a handgun to shoot and kill the moose about 14 miles outside the village at 1:32 a.m. Seavey spent about 10 minutes at the kill site before mushing his team about 11 miles and camping on a three-hour layover. He then departed for the next checkpoint and reported the kill upon arrival. The moose was not sufficiently gutted, according to race officials, which led to the time penalty being imposed on Seavey. The moose was retrieved, and its meat was salvaged and processed for distribution by Iditarod associates in Skwentna.

Despite the incident, Seavey was the first musher to reach the Cripple checkpoint, winning the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award and having the choice of either $3,000 in gold nuggets or a smartphone with a year of free mobile service. He was also the first musher to leave the checkpoint in Ophir, about 350 miles into the race. Seavey had to kill the moose in self-defense after it became entangled with his dog team, resulting in one injured dog being flown back to Anchorage for care. The injured dog, named Faloo, was reported to be in critical condition initially but was later said to be on the mend, receiving excellent care from the Iditarod vet team and other veterinarians.

Seavey is not the first musher to have to kill a moose during an Iditarod. In 1985, the late Susan Butcher had to fend off a moose with an axe and a parka, resulting in the death of two of her dogs and injuries to 13 others. Another musher had to kill the moose to stop the attack. The Iditarod, a 1,000-mile race across Alaska, will end next week when the winning musher crosses the finish line in Nome.