Man and his Dog save each other’s lives after colliding with moose
Published on May 16th, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - By saving his dog's life, Stoneham resident Dennis McEleney, by sheer luck, saved his own.
On the morning of Saturday, May 5, McEleney was driving west on Route 2 on his way to Gardner, where he intended to meet a man who had placed an ad in the paper for a cement mixer that he was hoping to sell.
For McEleney, a cement mixer would come in handy this summer because he hopes to repair the cellar of what his wife calls their "100-year-old house that needs lots of work."
As McEleney approached exit 23 in Gardner, he saw the SUV in the fast lane to the left of him shimmy, as though desperately trying to avoid something in the road. Moments later, McEleney saw for himself what the motorist was trying to steer clear from: a 400-pound baby moose that was standing in the middle of the highway.
In an instant, he pushed in the clutch of his '96 GM pick-up, yanked his foot from the gas pedal and jerked the steering wheel to his right. Flashing through his mind were the safety of two animals: the moose that he was hoping to miss, and his dog, a white boxer named Rocky, who had joined him for the trip and was sitting, unharnessed, in the passenger's seat.
"My dog wasn't strapped into the seat, so he would have gone through the windshield if I hadn't reached over and shielded him," McEleney says.
In saving Rocky's life, McEleney saved his own.
Since he swerved his truck to the right, he ended up hitting the moose with the left side of his vehicle. The moose flew up the left side of the truck's hood and slammed through the windshield. The animal’s rear-end bucked around from the impact and actually swung through the front driver's side window and landed inside the vehicle.
"If I hadn't leaned to my right to protect my dog, then the moose would have killed me when it came through my window," McEleney says.
It all happened in a matter of seconds. Until local and state police and an ambulance arrived on the scene, McEleney sat motionless in his truck, bleeding and covered in moose hair and waste.
"It was scary," McEleney says. "If it was not for Rocky, then my head would have been right there when the moose came through. I would have been killed."
McEleney was rushed to Hayward Hospital in Gardner, where he was treated for cuts on his face and elbow and released. Rocky, who had blood near his eyes, was rushed to the local veterinary clinic, where it was discovered that it was McEleney's blood on the animal. The dog was shaken, but healthy.
The moose, however, was not as lucky. The yearling died instantly.
"I feel sorry for the animal," says McEleney. "A moose is a beautiful creature. They have every right to be on this earth as we do."
Since the accident, McEleney has learned that within the first year of a moose's life, the animal is encouraged to leave his family, wander out on his own, and learn how to establish territory and survive. The young moose on Route 2 on Saturday morning was perhaps too young to assess the dangers of wandering into such a busy road.
The doctor who treated McEleney at Hayward Hospital told him, "God was definitely with you today."
Indeed. If McEleney had not swerved to the right, then he would have hit the moose head on and totaled the truck. If he had not reached for his dog, then the moose would have slammed into his head and killed him when it swung through the driver's window. And if he had not borrowed his brother's truck and instead took his own car, an Oldsmobile, to Gardner, then, well . . .
"Most people don't walk away from accidents like that," Gardner says.
Like his loyal owner, Rocky does not have any serious injuries as a result of Saturday's accident, but the dog is not likely to forget the incident any time soon.
"We just got the truck back a few days ago," says Linda, McEleney's wife. "When Rocky saw it, he began to shake like crazy. He won't go anywhere near the truck."
Despite the mere seconds that McEleney had to act on Saturday, he does say that he wishes that he had reacted differently.
"I wish that I had swerved to the left, instead of the right," he says, wishing that the life of the moose had been saved as well.
For those around McEleney, though, it would be difficult to agree that he should have reacted differently. After all, with the life of himself and his dog saved, it is clear that "right was right."
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