Last week, a musher shared the “most horrific 24-hours” of her life with followers of the Kennel on a Hill Facebook page. According to Bridgett Watkins, while she and her dog-sled team were on a 52-mile run, they encountered a healthy, adult bull moose. Watkins said that she “emptied her gun” into him when he charged, but the shots did nothing to slow him down.
She writes about the terrifying encounter:
I ran for my life and prayed I was fast enough to not be killed in that moment. He trampled the team and then turned for us and charged us humans who sought refuge beside our machine.
The moose stopped feet away from the snow machine, but she was able to cut six of the dogs from the sled. Unfortunately, the moose turned his attention to the dogs and proceeded to trample them. She said:
I was able to cut 6 dogs free that were on the team connected to the machine. But unfortunately he went back to my team attached to my sled and trampled them over and over; repeatedly, for nearly a hour it continued. I have never felt so helpless in my life.
She explained how the attack finally came to an end:
He would not leave us alone and he even stood over top of the team refusing to retreat. Our friend that lives out on the river was able to finally get to us and kill the animal that dropped just beside the team.
She proceeds to describe the dogs’ injuries:
We have one dog still fight for his life-Flash. He was stomped in the head and has a major head injury. Bronze under went emergent surgery last night to repair internal organ damage. Bill had a rear leg broke in half and just got out of surgery to stabilize. Jefe was stapled up, wounds cleaned and soft tissue damage evaluated. . The rest of the team is home, inside and recovering. We have many bumps, bruises, cuts, puncture wounds, hoof prints and broken hearts.
Amazingly, all of the dogs survived, despite being trampled by the massive animal. An update was provided on the kennel’s Facebook page:
Flash- your prayers were poured out and heard as we truly witnessed a miracle. 24 hours ago we had done all that veternary medicine could do and we had to wait- a very long night that I never left his side and literally listened to every breath as I lay beside him. As morning came he began to make more purposeful movements and tried to get up. He is now awake , alert, eating, and walking on his own. He’s wagged his tail and perked his ears as the boys came in room. God is goodBill- he is learning to hobble on 3 legs as his repaired injury heals. He is not a fan of all the hoopla and wants to be out with the team. He’s gets excited every time he hears them howl. I keep reminding him we are in for the long haul and he’s gonna have to be patient. Bronze -she has been the most relaxed and able to rest well. She’s wearing a tee shirt to keep her wounds nice and clean. She’s is eating and moving around surprisingly well. Jefe-what a big silly goofy boy. He is back out in yard enjoying his house and neighbors. His injuries are not hardly detectable. His leg is healing and he is 110% back to himself. We are still going to give him time off even though he will loudly protest.
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I can’t imagine the horror watching your precious dogs being trampled by a moose. Prayers for a speedy recovery for them all.
All of your dogs survived after moose attack. Please do not let dogs on cruel trip on annual Itroid. I pray that it will be banned in any state soon. Let dogs enjoy their lives. PETA is working hard on it.