Iditarod Mosher who ate moose during race didn't do it right, judges say when issuing time penalty

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Iditarod officials on Wednesday imposed a two-hour penalty on a Dallas Seavey driver for erring Tearing up the moose he killed During the race earlier this week.

Race leader Warren Palfrey has formed a three-person panel of race officials to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the moose, which became tangled with Seavey and his dog team early Monday, about 12 hours after the official start of the daylong race. A dog was injured in the encounter and was returned to Anchorage for care.

If a driver kills a large game animal such as a moose, caribou or buffalo in defense of life or property during a race, the rules require that the animal be removed and reported to officials at the next checkpoint.

Seavey, a five-time Iditarod champion, encountered the moose shortly after leaving the checkpoint in Squintna. He used a gun to shoot and kill him about 14 miles outside the village at 1:32 a.m. Monday.

According to the commission's findings, Seavey spent about 10 minutes at the killing site, then mashed his dog team about 11 miles away before camping out for a three-hour stop.

The team then left at 5:55 a.m. for the next checkpoint, arriving at Finger Lake at 8 a.m., where Seavey reported the killing.

“He fell on my sled; “It was sprawled out on the road,” Seavey told an Iditarod Insider TV crew at the Finger Lake checkpoint, where he urged race officials to move the moose off the track.

“I devoured it as best I could, but it was ugly,” he said.

“It was determined that the animal had not been adequately eaten by the animal’s driver,” a statement from the Iditarod said. By definition, bowel surgery involves removing the intestines and other internal organs, officials said.

The Iditarod can impose time penalties if a majority of the three-person committee agrees to violate the rule and gain a competitive advantage. Penalties can reach a maximum of eight hours for each violation.

Time penalties can be added to the mandatory pit stops each driver must make during the race or to a driver's final time after arriving in Nome.

The two-hour penalty will be in addition to Seavey's mandatory 24-hour suspension, officials said.

The moose was recovered and its meat was recovered and processed. Iditarod partners in Squintna were distributing food.

Seavey was leading the Iditarod on Wednesday, the first driver to leave the checkpoint in the mining town of Ophir, about 350 miles into the race, after staying just 15 minutes. Mosher Jessie Holmes arrived at Ophir first, about two hours before Sefi, but it seemed she was resting. There were also four other workers in Ophir.

the Festive start It was held on Saturday in Anchorage, with competition beginning on Sunday.

This year's race features 38 competitors, who will travel nearly 1,000 miles across two mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River and along the ice-covered Bering Sea. About 10 days after the start, they'll emerge from the snow and onto Main Street in the old Gold Rush town of Nome to make the final push to the finish line.