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A Kid's Thoughts
Problems
with Iditarod rules
Veterinary care not required for sick and injured dogs
No rule prohibits the use of whips
Is drug testing rule for dogs enforced?
Cheating
No rule requires dogs to get veterinary physical
exams at checkpoints
Rule forbidding replacement
of dropped dogs is inhumane
No rules govern leasing dogs for racing in the Iditarod
No regulations for snowmachiners
No rules govern treatment of dogs in the kennels
Being half drunk is allowed
No rule prohibits
mushers forcing sick and injured dogs to race
Rules
do not prohibit dogs in heat from racing
No rules govern dog foot care
No rule that volunteers be trained to care for sick
and injured dogs
No rule requires mushers to pass a written exam or
demonstrate skills
Rule prohibits food being shipped to some checkpoints
Is
drug testing rule for mushers enforced?
Rule allows mushers to take these drugs
First aid kits for dogs, knowledge of canine first aid
not mandatory
No rule that provides for doctors for mushers
Sick and injured mushers on painkillers are allowed to
participate
Rules do not require mushers to have pre-race physicals and drug tests
Rule requires dogs to race even when trail conditions
are horrid
Rules permit dogs to be given unsafe drugs
Rules do not call for a larger vet staff when more
dogs race
Rules
do not require checkpoints to remain open
The
story of poisoned mushers
Iditarod veterinarians violate Alaska law
Rules do not require Iditarod to find missing dogs
Veterinary
care not required for sick and injured dogs
Dropped dogs who may be sick are sent to prisons
and receive no veterinary care:
"Trail Fact: A record 44 inmates from the Hiland
Mountain/Meadow Creek correctional centers in Eagle River have volunteered
to care for dogs dropped from race teams, Superintendent Dean Marshall
said. Dogs dropped from teams at checkpoints before the midway point of
the race are flown to Anchorage and then taken to the prison for tending
until the mushers retrieve them."
- Associated Press, Fairbanks News-Miner, March 7, 2005
"The pilots ferry dropped dogs back to Anchorage,
where volunteers take the animals to the Eagle River Correctional Center;
there, inmates feed, water and care for canines until their owners return
from the trail."
- Rennick, Penny, ed. The Iditarod, Anchorage:
Alaska Geographic, 2001
"As soon as possible, these dogs are flown
to dropped-dog hub checkpoints and from there to facilities at either
Eagle River [near Anchorage] or Nome. At Eagle River, the minimum-security
inmates and their supervisors at Hiland Mountain and Meadow Creek Correctional
Center care for dogs dropped from the race."
- Hood, Mary. A Fan's Guide to the Iditarod, Loveland: Alpine Publications,
1996
Sick
dog gets no vet care after leaving checkpoint and dies:
"Little from Kasilof, a
reporter for the Daily News, left the dog [Carhartt] in the care of Iditarod
handlers Tuesday because it looked tired and wasn't eating well."
"Iditarod executive director Stan Hooley sid the dog had been flown to Anchorage on Wednesday by volunteers of the Iditarod Air Force. It was kept overnight and into the day at Eagle River's Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, where inmates tend dropped dogs."
"The
dog was signed our of Hiland Mountain late Thursday by Melissa DeVaughn,
an experienced musher and co-worker of Little's."
"She found it dead in her yard Friday morning."
-
Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 10, 2001
No
rule prohibits the use of whips
Many other dog sled races do have
this prohibition, including all Can-Am Crown races, International Pedigree
Stage Stop Sled Dog Race, John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, Percy DeWolfe
Memorial Mail Race, Copper Basin 300, Tustumena 200, Dubois, Empire 130,
AttaBoy300, Yukon Quest, Yukon 500, Grand Portage Passage Sled Dog Race,
Sandwich Notch Races and Kuskokwim 300.
Dogs beaten into submission:
"They've had the hell beaten out of them.""You don't just whisper into their ears, 'OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the same way elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And you know what? They are all lying."
-Tom
Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40 years
-USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column
Dogs beaten for going off of trail to sniff or lift a leg and for going
too slowly:
"Punishable
offenses include pulling off of the trail to sniff or to lift a leg, going
too slowly, not keeping the tugline tight, disobeying a command, being
aggressive to humans, or fighting with each other." "...A 'spanking'
may be administered with...a birch/willow switch."
-
Hood, Mary H. A Fan's Guide to the Iditarod,
Loveland:Alpine Blue Ribbon Books, 1996
Mushers says dogs who won't race should be whacked:
"Her [Sandy McKee's] dogs are being regally
obstinate. They will not move. McKee is talking about dropping out, a
fact that irks [Bill] Borden to no end. 'Those dogs are playing mind games
on you,' he says, pacing inside the community center. 'You gotta whack
them in the ass and say, 'Lets' go.''"
- Bill Donahue, "Sit. Stay. Fetch," Sports Illustrated Women,
December, 2002
Musher says Alaskans like dogs they can beat on:
"I
heard one highly respected (sled dog) driver once state that "'Alaskans
like the kind of dog they can beat on.'"
- Welch, Jim. The Speed Mushing Manual, Eagle
River: Sirius Publishing, 1990
Musher says beating dogs is very humane:
"Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective...A
training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective."
"It is a common training device in use among dog mushers...A whip
is a very humane training tool."
"Never
say 'whoa'
if you intend
to stop to whip a dog." "So without saying 'whoa' you plant
the hook, run up the side 'Fido' is on, grab the back of his harness,
pull back enough so that there is slack in the tug line, say 'Fido, get
up' immediately rapping his hind end with a whip...."
- Welch, Jim. The Speed Mushing Manual, Eagle
River: Sirus Publishing, 1990
Whips used to drive dogs across the finish line:
"As we came up over the sea wall onto Front
Street, I reached in my sled bag and pulled out a whip just as he glanced
around and saw it. So he reached in and pulled out his. And that's the
way we came down the street, just driving those dogs for all there was
in us."
- Iditarod winner Dick Mackey discussing how he and Rick Swenson used
their whips to drive their dogs across the finish line on Front Steet
in Nome.
- Freedman, Lew. Iditarod Classics, Seattle: Epicenter Press, 1992
Musher says mushers should always have the whip with them:
"Denis
Christman passed on a piece of advice that he had gotten from Bill Taylor
years earlier. Never let the dogs see the whip until you are actually
going to use it. Hide it, but always have it with you."
Welch, Jim. The Speed Mushing Manual, Eagle
River: Sirus Publishing, 1990
Is drug testing rule for dogs enforced?
AP
story raises important questions about testing dogs for drugs:
"Dogs,
not mushers, are tested for steroids, stimulants and other performance-enhancing
drugs in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race."
"When the teams of veterinarians examine the dogs at the checkpoints,
they go around with cups attached to sticks to collect urine samples.
Dogs are subject to collection of urine or blood samples at the discretion
of the testing vets at any point from the pre-race exam until 6 hours
after the teams finish in Nome. No one has been found to be doping their
dogs, but there are suspicions among some mushers that it's been done,
if not in the race, then in training."
- Steve Wilstein, Associated Press, March 8, 2005
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS:
1) While the Iditarod rule 20 says that dogs are subject to blood
tests during the race, are these tests ever given?
2) How many dogs receive blood or urine tests at each checkpoint?
3) Do the same dogs receive these tests at every checkpoint or at one
or more additional checkpoints?
4) When mushers stay at a checkpoint for only a short time, how can the
dogs get blood or urine tests?
(On March 9, 2005, Bjornar Andersen and Mitch Seavey arrived at the McGrath
checkpoint each with 15 dogs at 3:24 a.m. and 3:25 a.m., respectively.
Both mushers stayed at the checkpoint for two minutes. How could the vets
possibly have given all these dogs urine or blood tests in two minutes?
How could these dogs possibly been given physical exams?)
5) If a musher wants to rush through a checkpoint, but a vet wants to
administer a blood or urine test, why don't the rules require the musher
to delay his/her departure?
6) Why does the Iditarod administration never disclose the names of the
dogs that were tested, the name of their musher, when and where they were
tested, what tests they received and what the results were?
7) Since no statistics are ever disclosed, is it possible that
in any given year no dogs are tested for drugs?
Dogs being given drugs is an issue:
"Iditarod
dogs are also subjected to random drug testing. Among the banned substances:
anabolic steroids, diuretics, tranquilizers and opiates. Blood doping
is prohibited. If drugs are not an issue, why do race organizers bother
to ban them?"
- Jon Saraceno, USA Today, March 5, 2001
Cheating
"It is true that sports and cheating go hand in hand."
- Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics, New York,
William Morrow, 2005
- Steven Levitt did his undergraduate work at Harvard and has a PhD from
MIT. He teaches economics at the University of Chicago, and recently received
the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded every two years to the best American
economist under forty. - Stephen Dubner writes for The New York Times
and The New Yorker.
No rule requires dogs to get veterinary physical
exams at checkpoints
No physical examinations mandated for dogs
at checkpoints:
The Iditarod Trail Committee's rules do
not require veterinarians to give the dogs physical examinations at the
checkpoints.
- Iditarod race rules, Iditarod website
Musher's prerogative to race through checkpoints:
"When they come through real quickly we'd like to
get our hands on each one of them and examine them, but that is their
prerogative to go ahead and continue-- continue through if they feel their
dogs are doing well."
- Veterinarian Harvey Goho talking about mushers racing their dogs through
checkpoints
- Interview with Gabriel Spitzer, Alaska Public Radio Network, website,
March 8, 2006
It's just a "goal" that dogs get any kind of vet check, including
a visual one:
"The goal of the veterinary program is to have
each dog examined by a vet at every checkpoint, Nelson said. But given
that some teams spend very little time in some checkpoints, that isn't
always possible."
[From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: Dogs get poor veterinary care when
veterinarians only do visual checks. All dogs should receive veterinary
physical exams at all checkpoints.]
- Stuart Nelson is the Iditarod's chief veterinarian
- Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 11, 2002
Back to the top
Rule forbidding replacement of dropped dogs is inhumane
Terrible burden placed on dogs left to
pull musher and loaded sled:
Iditarod
rule number 6 states that "No dogs may be added to a team after the re-start
of the race." (The race is restarted after the "ceremonial start" which
is 11 miles long.) "At least five (5) dogs must be on the towline at the
finish line."
Mushers may drop or remove dogs, but those dogs cannot be replaced. Imagine
the awful stress and terrible burden felt by the 5 dogs who are forced
to race while pulling a musher and a loaded sled untold distances with
perhaps only a few short rest stops. (In the Iditarod, which can last
from 9 to 15 days, there are only 3 mandatory rest stops- one 24 hour
stop and two 8 hour ones.)
- The Sled Dog Action Coalition
- Rule number 6 on Iditarod website
Mushers can replace sleds twice but not dogs:
"Mushers can replace sleds twice but not dogs."
- Steve Wilstein, Associated Press, March 8, 2005
Physiological damage to the dogs may appear during or after the race:
Andrea Flyod-Wilson: "Let's
take a look at a dog that is days into the trail and perhaps not in good
shape to begin with, and now being asked to pull a heavier load [because
dropped dogs cannot be replaced]. What kind of physiological changes will
we be looking at in their bodies?"
Dr. Paula Kislak: "There are a number of them.
There would be hemorrhaging in the lungs and there would be a breakdown
of the muscle tissue. When that muscle tissue breaks down and gets into
the blood stream, it creates a very severe toxicity to the liver and the
kidneys which can fail either suddenly or slowly. And, because of the
stress on the heart, there can be sudden heart failure or there can be
irreparable damage to the heart muscle, that doesn't manifest itself until
after the end of the race like many of other the deteriorating conditions
that occur from the extreme prolonged exertion."
-
Andrea Floyd-Wilson is the host of the All About Animals Radio Show. On
February 23, 2003, she interviewed Paula Kislak, DVM, President of the
Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights.
No
rules govern leasing dogs for racing in the Iditarod
Dogs are treated like rent-a-cars:
The Iditarod Trail Committee allows people
to lease dogs for racing in the Iditarod and has not instituted any rules
to govern this business. Mushers are not required to spend a minimum number
of hours working with and training each leased dog. They are not required
to know anything about a dog's health history or personality. The Iditarod
Trail Committee's failure to regulate the leasing of dogs puts the dogs
at great risk.
- The Sled Dog Action Coalition
-
Iditarod website
"Hickel, 56, doesn't own a dog lot.
He doesn't even own a dog. He leased a complete team from Big Lake musher
Ramey Smyth for more than $20,000, he said."
- Joel Gay, Anchorage Daily News, March 5,
2003
t to carry out even mundane acts, such
No
regulations for snowmachiners
In spite of snowmachiners killing
and injuring dogs and harassing mushers, the Iditarod does not want to
regulate where snowmachiners go:
"The chance for disaster
is out there," said Rick Koch, president of the Iditarod Trail Committee,
"and I think we've seen that this year."
"I [Rick Koch] definitely wouldn't ever want to see any regulations saying this is where you can go with a snowmachine and this is where you can go with a dog team, because we all want to go to the same places."
"Koch said the Iditarod has a similar view."
-
Beth Bragg, Anchorage Daily News, March 7, 2001
Snowmachines kill dogs:
"At approximately
10 p.m. last evening, a snowmachiner ran into Jennifer Freking’s team
on the Yukon River near Koyukuk. Unfortunately, the incident caused the
death of a 3-year-old female named ‘Lorne.’"
- Iditarod website advisory, March 10, 2008
"More violent were the
deaths of two dogs and the injuries to two others in Rollin Westrum's
team. Westrrum was nearing White Mountain, about 85 miles from the finish
line, when his team was illuminated in the glaring headlight of a snowmachine.
'It came head-on,' the musher told reporters later. 'It hit the dogs and
then glanced off to one side and went right by.'"
- O'Donoghue, Brian Patrick.
My Lead Dog was a Lesbian, New York: Vintage Books, 1996
- O'Donoghue was a reporter
with the Fairbanks News-Miner
Speeding
snowmachine drivers hit dog teams:
"Musher Mike Nosko dropped out
of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race after his dog team was hit by a speeding
snowmachine driver." "The dogs were bruised and banged
up...."
- The Associated Press, March 6, 2001
"A
second team in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race was injured Saturday by
a snowmachine. A dog in the team of Palmer Sagoonick of Shaktoolik suffered
a broken leg when it was hit, according to race marshal Mark Nordman."
-
Anchorage Daily News, March 18, 2001
Dog team struck by a recreational
snowmachiner:
"Mushers were grappling with another
annoyance - hordes of recreational snow machiners following along as spectators.
Iditarod officials had received a report from a photographer that a snowmachine
struck a team on the trail about two miles outside Knik on Sunday afternoon.
According to the caller, the dogs were unhurt and the musher kept going,
Potts said. 'They're just all over,' Delia said. 'They almost were weaving
in and out of the teams.'"
-
Doug O'Harra, Anchorage Daily News, March 7, 2000
Dogs stressed from snowmachine tracks on trail:
"I found the trail from Knik to Yentna to be
really tough. It was so criss-crossed with snowmachine tracks that my
leaders were stressed out with a kind of vertigo."
- Brian O'Donaghue, Iditarod musher and former reporter for the Fairbanks
News-Miner
- Freedman, Lew. More Iditarod Classics, Kenmore: Epicenter Press,
2004
Snowmachiner harasses musher and charges dogs:
"But when she got there [Bondarenko] Sunday night,
the bonfire participants started yelling and shooting flash photographs.
"'They scared me to death,' said Bondarenko. When she veered away, someone
started chasing her on a snowmachine, and kept charging her dogs to make
them stop. Finally, she did."
- The bonfire was held on Shell Lake, between between Skwentna and Finger
Lake
- Joel Gay, Anchorage Daily News, March 10, 2004
Drunken snowmachiners and speed of machines make for accidents and
deaths:
"One of the great hazards of the race was snowmachines,
especially being driven by drunks." "During the day it can be bad enough,
especially if it's off the river and they come around a corner blind and
hit the team. But at night it's worse. They move at speeds that make it
impossible for the driver to react if he sees something in his headlights,
and there are many accidents. Teams are hit, dogs have been killed, people
injured and some killed."
- Paulsen, Gary. Winterdance: the find madness of running the Iditarod.
Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994
No
rules govern treatment of dogs in the kennels
For
quotes about the miserable treatment the dogs receive in the kennels,
click
Abuse
in Kennels.
Being
half drunk is allowed
Self-indulgent drinking is considered safe
and legal:
"Perhaps Rule 29, dealing with musher
conduct, sums up the real character of this race. It allows that "excessive
use of alcohol by mushers during the race is prohibited.
So unlike NASCAR, these sled drivers can be half in-the-bag and still
be considered safe and legal."
[From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: The Iditarod
Trail Committee does not check how much alcohol a musher brings. However,
Rule 5 states that a musher's gear may be checked for the required Iditarod
promotional material.]
- Bob Chorush, op-ed, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 2, 2002
- Bob Chorush is a former editor of Rolling Stone Magazine
- Iditarod website, Race Rules
"We were piling up there trying to wait out
the storm." Terry Adkins organized the poker playing and the whiskey
drinking."
- Dave Olesen, Iditarod musher
- Terry Adkins was a race veterinarian
- Freedman, Lew. More Iditarod Classics, Kenmore: Epicenter Press,
2004
No rule prohibits mushers forcing sick and injured dogs to race
Mushers start race with sick dogs:
"He
[veterinarian Terry Adkins] saw very little diarrhea along the trial from
the ceremonial start Saturday, he said, adding though that John Barron
of Helmville told him his dogs had it. Loose stools are a sign of ill
health. Sled dogs relieve their bowels on the run."
[From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: Because the
dogs "relieve their bowels on the run," it is likely that the dogs running
in back of those who were stricken with diarrhea inhaled this fecal material.
The bacterial material it contains could cause infection and death. Sick
dogs should be pulled out of the race.]
- Mark Downey, Great Falls Tribune,
March 4, 2002
"One
of his dogs caught a virus three days before the start and it went dog-to-dog
through his team through the first two-thirds of the race, he [John Barron]
said."
- Mark Downey, Great Falls Tribune, March
14, 2002
"Zirkle,
of Two Rivers, limped along the trail Tuesday morning with an ailing dog
team. A few of her dogs got sick just before the race, and the bug has
spread through her entire team she said."
-
Aliy Zirkle, musher in 2001 Iditarod
- Elizabeth Manning, Anchorage Daily News, March 8, 2001
"Even on Fourth Avenue [in Anchorage] I had
two dogs coughing. "We spent the night in Wasilla, and there were
five dogs coughing and hacking."
- Aliy Zirkle, Iditarod musher
- Freedman, Lew. More Iditarod Classics, Kenmore: Epicenter Press,
2004
"Two of his [Bartlett's] veteran dogs were
unable to keep running." "Bartlett suspects the dogs were suffering
from a virus. They had not wanted to eat since the ceremonial start Saturday
in Anchorage...."
- Rachel D'Oro, Associated Press, Wednesday, March 5, 2003
[In 2003, the Iditarod restart was in Fairbanks on Monday, March 3, two
days after the Anchorage ceremonial start. According to the AP report,
Barlett's dogs raced for at least three days even though they were too
sick to eat.]
"One dog had a cough the day the race started
and that illness spread through the team, he said."
- Terry Adkins, DVM, discussing musher Karen Land's dogs
- Mark Downey, Great Falls Tribune, March 8, 2003
Mushers
force sick dogs to run:
"Two of the MANY (emphasis added) mushers who
battled viruses in their dog teams and placed well below their expectations
were Vern Halter...and John Baker...."
- Lew Freedman, Anchorage Daily News, March 17, 2000
"It was my first Iditarod; I had to finish
the ding-dang thing. The dogs all had fevers. The vets gave them a powerful
antibiotic."
"Every time I came into a checkpoint, the vets
knew about me and asked how the dogs were doing." "They [the
dogs] had a virus with a fever, and they were coughing mucus."
-
Aliy Zirkle, Iditarod musher
- Freedman, Lew. More Iditarod Classics, Kenmore: Epicenter Press,
2004
"... (The dog's) recovery in the checkpoints
was slowed by some sort of virus."
- Doug Swingley, the 2000 Iditarod race winner
- Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 14, 2000
"Around Nikolai, about 350 miles into the race,
some of his dogs caught a virus." "'They had some bad discomfort'" said
Swingley. "'It was hard for me to manage them.'"
- Doug Swingley, the 2000 Iditarod race winner
- Lew Freedman, Anchorage Daily News, March 15, 2000
"COAXING SICK DOGS: Linwood Fiedler, DeeDee
Jonrowe's Willow neighbor, finished just ahead of her in 19th and had
to nurse sick dogs much of the time."
- Staff report, Anchorage Daily News, March 17, 2000, article on
website
"I just
couldn't keep fluids in them," the musher said. "I'd get in
the checkpoints, and they'd look good, and I'd get out and they'd lose
their hydration."
- Jason Halseth, musher in 2001 Iditarod
- Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 15, 2001
"Although one or two dogs in his [Ramy Brooks]
team attacked their food bowls with gusto, most poked at their chow or
ignored it."
(From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: According
to the Iditarod website, Ramy Brooks was at the Unalakleet checkpoint
with nine dogs. The race ends in Nome which is 260 miles from this checkpoint.)
- Joel Gay, Anchorage Daily News, March 11, 2003 report from Unalakleet
"With another, he [Lindwood Fiedler] opened
its [the dog's] mouth and fed it antibiotics to fight an infection. 'Better
mushing through pharmacy,' he quipped."
Joel Gay, Anchorage Daily News, March 12, 2003
Vets lack the authority to exclude sick and injured dogs from the race:
"...I've been able to keep a couple of
dogs in the team the vets thought I should drop."
- Bowers, Don. Back of the Pack, Anchorage: Publication Consultants,
2000
- Iditarod rules, Iditarod website
"The checkpoint's vet has recommended sending
Pig [Land's lead dog] back to Anchorage, too. 'He yanked on my dogs' joints
and poked hard at their muscles,' Land gripes. 'But he just doesn't have
the sensibility to tell me what I can do with Pig." "... Land
decides she will chance it [keeping Pig in the race].
Bill Donahue, "Sit. Stay. Fetch." Sports Illustrated Women,
December, 2002
"Peryll Kyzer is nursing her dogs along, including
one vets advised her to drop in Nikolai."
- Alaska Public Radio Network, 1997 Iditarod audio files
"Later Swenson was in front of the cabin trying
to decide if he should drop a little pup named Carrot. A veterinarian
and I were waiting for his decision, ready to take the dog if he chose
to leave her." "She wasn't moving with the same ease she had in the months
of training."
- Lisa Frederic, Anchorage Press, March 8, 2006
Back
to the top
Rules do not prohibit dogs in heat
from racing
Males don't want to race when a female is in heat:
"One of [Rick] Swenson's female dogs is in heat. The allure of mating
throws a hard curve into the social structure of the team. If not managed
properly, the effect can weaken a team's concentration on the race. [Joe]
Runyan intimated that Swenson had not been able to overcome the obstacle."
- Mark Downey, Great Falls Tribune, Marcy
7, 2002
Females
in heat don't want to race:
“Paul
[Ellering] lost dogs for a lot of different reasons,” [Becky] Timson said.
“Two of them actually went into heat, and that’s not good. He put them
up front for as long as they didn’t want to find the boys, but when they
started turning around because the boys were back there, that was a big
tangle.”
- Becky Timson is one of Rachael Scdoris' dog handlers
- Roy Gault, Statesman Journal, March 18, 2005
Males on the team show behavioral problems:
"All eight females in her team have gone into
heat since the Iditarod began Saturday, causing the six males in the team,
including Willow [the lead dog], to display 'behavioral problems, said
Gould.
Lured
by hormonal scents, Willow refuses to lead and keeps cranking his head
around to sniff. He is also refusing to eat."
"If the musher detects the heat early enough, he or she can administer
drugs to stop the cycle. But the medications can cause other problems....,
Bowser [veterinarian] said."
- Melanie Gould, musher
- Tim Bowser, veterinarian, Soldotna, AK
- Paula Dobbyn, Anchorage Daily News, March 6, 2002
No
rules govern dog foot care
Race rules do not require mushers to put
booties on their dogs. But, there are rules that tell a musher when to
wear his/her Iditarod bib:
According to the Iditarod website, Iditarod
Trail Committee rules require a musher to have "eight booties for
each dog in the sled or in use" at all times. There are no standards
regarding the materials of which the booties are made. The rules do not
require mushers to put the booties on the dogs.
However,
there are rules that tell a mushers when to wear his/her official Iditarod
Trail bib:
"The
musher must wear the bib in a visible fashion from Safety Checkpoint to
Nome. The winner shall continue to wear the bib through the lead dog ceremony."
- Rule 3, Iditarod website
"...[It]
is a large bib with the logo of a major race sponsor and the competitor's
starting-position number on it."
- Hood, Mary. A Fan's Guide to the Iditarod, Loveland: Alpine Publications,
1996
Dogs have bleeding and cracked paws:
"I covered the Iditarod dog-sled race ten times.
Walking out onto the ice of the Bering Sea in February, the Northern Lights
dancing a spectacular show above, is a distinct memory. But watching those
huskies' paws bleed and crack during their 1100-mile, 22-hour-a-day run
across the Alaskan tundra, was heartache for a dog lover."
- Diana Nyad, The Score, KCRW Radio, November 2, 2006, website
transcript
Booties fly off when put on improperly:
"You can't just slap on booties. If done improperly,
a bootie will fly off while the team is moving...."
- Chris Talbott, Juneau Empire, March 5, 2004
[From
the Sled Dog Action Coalition: With mushers pushing their dogs to run
at ever increasing speeds and stopping at many checkpoints for less than
three minutes, how many booties are actually fitted properly?]
Dogs get blisters on their pads:
"They [the dogs] had gone through a river overflow
and gotten their paws wet, which lead to blisters on their pads."
- Nancy Russell, whose dogs raced in the Iditarod
- Laurie Arendt, Greater Milwaukee Today, November 24, 2003
[The blisters can easily become infected.]
Improperly fitting and worn booties cause injuries:
(From the Sled Dog Action Coaltion: Iditarod rules do not require that
dogs be fitted for their booties.)
"Taking the dog in for a fitting is a good
idea, [Dr. Arleigh] Reynolds said, because a boot that is too large won't
give proper traction on slippery surfaces. Openings at the top allow snow
to enter the boot, also causing injuries. And a too-small boot can cut
off circulation to the dog's feet. Check the condition of the booties
from time to time to ensure that the dog hasn't worn holes in the bottom
and that the boots aren't too tight."
- Arleigh Reynolds, D.V.M., Ph.D. was an assistant professor at Cornell
- Cornell University Science News press release, Dec. 9, 1996, on its
website
Well-fitting booties can prevent injuries:
"The professor/musher [Arleigh Reynolds, D.V.M.]
offers these tips to successfully share winter activities with dogs:
"Uninsulated booties are not for warmth, the Cornell expert noted,
but for two kinds of protection: For preventative health care if the dog
runs through changing conditions -- from water to snow that forms balls
in the hair of the feet or from powder snow to granular snow or ice with
sharp edges -- the booties prevent injuries. In deep-snow conditions,
where dogs' feet spread out and snow acts like tiny knives to produce
cuts between the webs of their feet, Rover will be grateful for the fashionable
attire."
-
Arleigh Reynolds, D.V.M., Ph.D. was an assistant professor at Cornell
- Cornell University Science News press release, Dec. 9, 1996, on its
website
Dog allowed to start race with open sore on foot pad:
"He's [Don Bower's dog Batman] had an open
sore on one of his front footpads since before the race and even with
booties and lots of ointment, it's not improving."
- Bowers, Don. Back of the Pack, Anchorage: Publication Consultants,
2000
No rule that volunteers be trained to care for
sick and injured dogs
"Dropped
Dogs: a few volunteers are needed to help with picking up dogs at the
Anchorage airport or Lake Hood when the dogs come in off the trail. Help
is needed...transporting dogs to the Eagle River holding facility. One
necessity is a strong back."
- Iditarod Sled Dog Race Volunteer Information and Applications, Iditarod
website
No
rule requires mushers to pass a written exam or demonstrate skills
The Iditarod Trail Committee has no
rules or policies that require mushers to pass written tests or demonstrate
knowledge of their mushing skills. Mushers are not required to be certified
in canine first aid or canine CPR. For the safety and welfare of the dogs,
mushers should be required to show they have a high degree of knowledge.
The Iditarod race is over 1,150 miles of grueling terrain. Mushing in
shorter races or less challenging races, does not adequately prepare mushers
for the situations that may arise during the Iditarod.
- "Policy 4-- Musher Qualifications," Iditarod website
Musher ignorance:
"I didn't have any idea what to prepare for because
I didn't know what was coming. Everything from packing food drop bags
to just knowing what the trail was like and how far it was between certain
checkpoints. I had no idea. And I really had no idea how to run the dogs
in any kind of logical way as far as a rest-run schedule went."
- Jon Little, Iditarod musher and former reporter for the Anchorage
Daily News
- Freedman, Lew. More Iditarod Classics, Kenmore: Epicenter
Press, 2004
Rule prohibits food being shipped
to some checkpoints
"Food and/or gear will not be shipped
to the checkpoints of Yentna, Finger Lake or Golovin."
- Iditarod rule 44, Iditarod website
Is
drug testing rule for mushers enforced?
Under
Iditarod rule 29 mushers are subject to random drug testing. The use of
illegal drugs as defined by state law is prohibited. If drugs are not
an issue why do race officials bother to ban them? The Iditarod Trail
Committee never gives statistics as to how many mushers were tested for
drugs and what the results were. It's possible that in any given year
no mushers were tested.
- Iditarod website, Race Rules
Mushers smoking marijuana:
"While mushers have been known to blow marijuana
smoke near their teams to calm the dogs, some suggest the testing program
is aimed at the wrong group."
'We joke that they should test more mushers than
dogs,' [Martin} Buser says."
- Douglas Robson, USA Today, February 29, 2008
"Alaska was no longer a pot smoker's haven.
As a result of the recriminalization measure adopted during the November
general election, possession of small amounts of marijuana was now punishable
by a $1,000 fine and up to 90 days in jail. But cops weren't patrolling
the Iditarod Trail as [Tom] Daily and I shared a few puffs on the crest
of a barren hill."
- O'Donoghue, Brian Patrick. My Lead Dog was
a Lesbian, New York, Vintage Books, 1996
- O'Donoghue was a reporter for the Fairbanks News-Miner
Rule
allows mushers to take these drugs
Under Iditarod rule 29 the use of illegal drugs
as defined by state law is prohibited. Because they are not covered by
state law, mushers are allowed to take the following drugs: anabolic agents,
diuretics, and peptide hormones, mimetics and analogues and some stimulants.
Blood doping is allowed.
Some of these drugs could endanger the musher's health.
-
Alaska Statutes Sec. 11.71.090-11.71.360
- Iditarod Rules, Iditarod website
First aid kits for
dogs, knowledge of canine first aid not mandatory
Iditarod rules do not require mushers to have first
aid kits for the dogs or be certified in canine CPR and first aid.
- Iditarod website
Absaroka Search Dogs of Montana recommendations for first aid kit additions:
"For handlers who frequent working their dogs in
cold weather conditions, these additions to their first aid kits should
be considered:
Absorbent towels for drying dog
Space
blanket or other heat reflective blanket
Thick sport weight or wool socks (kid's size to fit paws) 2 pair
Cold weather dog jacket if appropriate for dog
Vaseline based ointment
Prevention of frostbite and hypothermia is possible by observing your
dog frequently and providing the necessary support before trouble arrives.
If your dog does not have an adequate coat, provide it with an artificial
coat. Have a pad to insulate the dog from the cold ground when it must
be in one place. Make sure that when you take a break and warm up, you
get out the pad and give food and water. Check the temperature of the
ears, scrotum and face, watching for signs of frostbite."
- Vikki Fenton-Anderberg, Absarkoka Search Dogs of Montana, website article,
2005
(Absaroka Search Dogs of Montana train dogs to assist with search and
rescue efforts for lost or missing individuals in all kinds of weather.)
The
Iditarod does not require mushers to have first aid kits or carry any
of the above recommended items. When mushers give the dogs something to
sleep on, they routinely give them straw, not space blankets or other
heat reflective blankets.
No
rule that provides for doctors for mushers
Iditarod rules do not require medical doctors to
be on the trail to diagnose and care for musher injuries. Mushers must
rely upon veterinarians who may not be able to adequately diagnosis and
treat human injuries and illnesses. When mushers are sick or injured,
what kind of care do the dogs get?
In 2007, Aeromed provided medical care for humans
at the Skwentna, McGrath and Unalakleet checkpoints. Crews do not include
a medical doctor. According to Aeromed's website (March 31, 2007), it
has "a certified flight nurse (CFRN or CCRN) and critical care MICP
administering the critical care treatment necessary to stabilize the patient
during transport."
Veterinarian gives first aid to musher who stepped on nail:
"He [Veterinarian Mike Yacapraro] said he performed
first aid on one man who was preparing his sled and stepped on a nail."
- Chris Kick, The Daily Record, March 31, 2007
Veterinarian sews up Joe Redington, Sr.'s cut:
"His sled dug in, he soared up in the air, and in
the flip cut his knee, a three-four-inch gash. In Skwentna, Redington
was looking for first aid, but no one was around to help. So he called
for his old pal Terry Adkins. The mushing veterinarian was nearby with
his team and he sewed up Redington's cut.
'I was afraid I was going to get socked with malpractice for practicing
human medicine, ' said Adkins."
- Freedman, Lew. Father of the Iditarod, Kenmore: Epicenter Press,
1999
Veterinarian clips nerves that got in Martin Buser's way:
"While in Rohn, one of the race veterinarians
looked at it [Buser's middle finger], and was a little taken aback by
what he saw. 'I had some nerves sticking out, drying out, and getting
in my way,' Buser recalled. He asked the vet to cut the nerves away. The
veterinarian reluctantly agreed and made the snips."
- Jon Little, Cabela's website, March 11, 2005
Little formerly wrote for the Anchorage Daily News
Did this musher get a mild concussion?
"He [Bill Cotter] mulled over the nasty bump on
his forehead. Cotter said he got the injury when he encountered a log
on the trail coming into the Rainy Pass checkpoint, 224 miles from Anchorage...."
"'I tipped over, landed in the snow and hit a tree.'"
- Mary Pemberton, Associated Press, March 9, 2004
Mild concussions can have significant effects:
"Athletes with mild concussions demonstrated significant
declines in memory processes that were still evident at four and seven
days post-injury. Other self-reported symptoms – including headaches,
dizziness and nausea – resolved by day four."
-
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, website article, January 30,
2003
Many mushers injured in sled crashes:
"Cotter was among the humans nursing injuries from
a sled crashes."
- Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 9, 2004
Musher battles stomach virus for 10 days:
""[Jessica] Hendricks battled a stomach virus during the 10-day
race."
- Beth Bragg, Anchorage Daily News, March 15, 2003
Musher amputates part of pinky:
"He
started the 1997 race with a cast on his broken right foot, and his back
was still aching after breaking it the year before. Then shortly before
the race, he broke a couple of fingers. Going down the hazardous Dalzell
Gorge, unable to stand on his broken foot and holding on with one hand,
he clipped an overhanging branch with the pinky of his left hand and,
he says almost matter of factly, 'cut the end of it off.'
The end of the finger?
'Yeah, just the end.'
Just the end.
'But it bled like hell, and so I wrapped it up with black tape. I lost
a lot of blood, so I was really thirsty when I got into the next checkpoint.
I usually use water purification tablets. But I was so thirsty I didn’t
want to wait for it to sit for 20 minutes. Well, I chewed the tablet up,
so that burned the hell out of my tongue. So then I couldn’t talk.'"
- Steve Wilstein, Associated Press, MSNBC.com, March 5, 2005
The story of poisoned mushers:
Please
scoll down to read their story.
Sick
and injured mushers on painkillers are allowed to participate
Partial amputation of Buser's finger four days before race starts:
"Four-time Iditarod winner Martin Buser underwent
a partial amputation of his middle finger after he injured it in a table
saw accident at his Big Lake home, Iditarod officials said Wednesday.
Buser was treated at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage after injuring
himself Tuesday. Buser told race managers he intends to participate in
the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which kicks off Saturday
with a ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage."
- Anchorage Daily News, March 2, 2005
"The doctor amputated it just on the palm side
of the middle knuckle, taking off more than 2 inches, he [Martin Buser]
said."
"The injured finger had started to hurt by
Wednesday afternoon, Buser reported, though pain medication was keeping
him comfortable. But the missing finger will be sensitive throughout the
race, which for Buser would typically last nine or 10 days."
- Joel Gay, Anchorage Daily News, March 3, 2005
Martin
Buser starts Iditarod with mangled hand and loaded up on painkillers:
"Fearless,
foolhardy or just plain stubborn, four-time champion Martin Buser cheerfully
started the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday, a few
days after the middle finger of his right hand was amputated above the
second joint.
Buser loaded up on painkillers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pills,
wore bandages and a special splint on his mangled hand -- he also had
stitches up the inside length of his ring finger and two stitches on his
index finger from a table saw accident Tuesday -- and stuffed it inside
an oversized black mitten."
- Steve Wilstein, Associated Press, March 5, 2004
Musher cracked a rib and tore muscles before race:
"At the emergency room, the doctor looks at
the x-rays and says I've probably cracked a rib, and I almost certainly
have torn some muscles and other good stuff inside my rib cage. He gives
me some heavy-duty painkillers and advises me to get home somehow before
I start taking them" "Regardless, I'll still be at the starting
line on March 4th, even if I have to carry enough serious painkillers
to require an escort from the Drug Enforcement Agency. At least I can
take some comfort in knowing I won't be the first musher to try the race
with a busted something or other."
- Bowers, Don. Back of the Pack, Anchorage: Publication Consultants,
2000
Musher
starts with broken foot and fingers, and chronic back pain:
"He
[Ramey Smyth] started the 1997 race with a cast on his broken right foot,
and his back was still aching after breaking it the year before. Then
shortly before the race, he broke a couple of fingers."
- Steve Wilstein, Associated Press, MSNBC.com, March 5, 2005
Charlie Boulding's two knees are painful from missing cartilage:
"[Charlie] Boulding said, "All of the cartilage
is out of my knees so its pretty painful...."
- KTVA-TV, Anchorage, March 7, 2005
Bryan Mills has pneumonia:
"Five days before the race began, [Bryan] Mills
developed pneumonia and couldn't talk for the next 10 days."
- Mike Leverton, The Monroe Times, March 31, 2005
Trisha Kolegar is allow to participate with a broken neck:
"She [Trisha Kolegar] completed the Iditarod on
her first attempt, despite the fact that she suffered a broken neck on
the Happy River run only a couple of days into the 1,100-mile journey."
- Becky Stoppa, Anchorage Daily News, November 2, 2005
Rules
do not require mushers to have pre-race physicals and drug tests
-
Iditarod website
Rule requires dogs to race even when trail conditions
are horrid
There's no concern for the dogs' welfare:
"Although
trail conditions border on horrible at the moment, Jack Niggemeyer, trail
manager for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, said the Iditarod will go
north for Nome, no matter what.
Iditarod race rules, he noted, clearly say the Last Great Race starts
the first Saturday in March 'regardless of weather conditions.'"
- Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, January 16, 2003
Rules
permit dogs to be given unsafe drugs
Females dogs allowed to take hazardous drugs:
Andrea Floyd-Wilson: "I found it very interesting
that one type of drug that they [Iditarod Trail Administration] allow
is specific for the female dogs. They allow Cheque Drops or Ovaban, drugs
that are used to prevent the dogs from coming into season, and my understanding
is these are not real safe drugs."
Dr. Paula Kislak: "They're not safe drugs.
They have been implicated in causing cancer, but quite honestly these
people aren't looking toward the long term well-being and the long term
future of these dogs. And, for obvious reasons, it would be very disruptive
to have a female in heat because the males would get completely distracted.
And yet, they don't want to spay the females, because if a female does
perform well, she will be used as a breeding bitch. They are giving drugs
that are hormones, that are powerful hormones and do have consequences
in the long term, but, again, they're not looking at the long term best
interests of the animal."
- Andrea Floyd-Wilson is the host of the All About
Animals Radio Show. On February 23, 2003, she interviewed
Paula Kislak, DVM, President of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal
Rights.
Iditarod race rules permit the use of Ovaban and Cheque Drops.
Rules do not call
for a larger vet staff when more dogs race
Iditarod Dog Care Measures call for a "staff of
35 veterinarians, including five rookies annually." Chief Iditarod veterinarian
Stu Nelson said, "We strive to have 35 trail veterinarians." The Iditarod
administration does not require a specific dog to veterinarian ratio,
so that more dogs racing do not result in more veterinarians on the trail.
- Information on the number of veterinarians comes from the Iditarod website,
2004
- Sled Dog Action Coaliton
Rules do not require
checkpoints to remain open
"There was an overwhelming sensation the clock
was running, because they were starting to shut down the Rohn checkpoint
while I was there. The officials were burning supplies, the tent that
mushers can rest in was being stripped down. It was mass exodus."
"I was slow getting out of checkpoints. I was sleeping a long time."
- Brian O'Donaghue, Iditarod musher and former Fairbanks News-Miner reporter
- Freedman, Lew. More Iditarod Classics, Kenmore: Epicenter Press,
2004
Mushers
poisoned by carbon monoxide:
"Catherine
Mormile and four other mushers were poisoned by the odorless, toxic fumes
from a propane heater while resting in an airtight plastic coated tent
designated for mushers. "
- Natalie Phillips, Anchorage Daily News, January 27, 1997
Mushers
show signs of carbon monoxide poisoning:
"Moroney
and Moore were unconscious. They had to be dragged to safety."
"Chapoton, a 28-year-old running a young team belonging to former Iditarod
champ Martin Buser, said once he got out of the tent, he worked to help
revive Mormile: He slapped her. 'You did?' said a surprised Mormile."
-
Natalie Phillips, Anchorage Daily News, March 9, 1994
Iditarod
does not call in medical doctors to give mushers exams:
"The ill mushers were taken to the nearby wilderness home of Barry and
Kirsten Stanley."
- Natalie Phillips, Anchorage Daily News,
March 9, 1994
(The Iditarod did not and does not have medical
doctors on the trail for the mushers.)
Mormile suffered brain damage from carbon monoxide poisoning:
"Back
in Anchorage, Mormile picked up a Newsweek magazine and the letters blurred.
Road signs read like swear words. She also noticed that her attention
span was short and she was irritable. After seeing doctors in Anchorage,
Mormile ended up at Duke University Medical Center. She aid four days
of testing showed that she had suffered brain damage from the carbon monoxide.
Her IQ of 140 was not 90, she said."
- Natalie Phillips, Anchorage Daily News, January 27, 1997
Mormile
settles her lawsuit against Iditarod:
"One
of the mushers who was nearly killed by carbon monoxide poisoning has
settled her lawsuit against the Iditarod Trail Committee."
"The amount of the settlement is confidential because Iditarod officials
didn't want it revealed, according to Mormile and her attorney, Robert
Rehbock."
- Natalie Phillips, Anchorage Daily News, January 27, 1997
Mormile clarifies statment made on CNN show Anderson Cooper 360 degrees:
"Dear Margery Glickman; c/o Sled Dog Action
Coalition:
I would like to clarify a statement that I made on Anderson Cooper 360
degrees, which aired on 1-12-2006 on CNN. I stated that while competing
in the 1994 Iditarod and subsequently suffering from the effects of carbon
monoxide poisoning, a doctor declared me dead. I would like to state that
while this is true, I did not have the opportunity to clarify the following:
(1) The Iditarod did not have, at any time, any assigned doctors for humans,
nor did the Iditarod provide any medical contingency plans or equipment.
(2) The doctor, Beth Baker, an MD/internist and fellow musher in the 1994
Iditarod, possessed no diagnostic equipment or medication on her person
or sled.
(3) Dr. Baker visually looked at me, moved my extremities, and reportedly
pinched me to determine my viability. She, by observation, made the declaration
that I was dead.
(4) The man who carried my body was identified by various witnesses as
a "local". All witnesses concurred that he carried and dropped me. Not
one witness could recollect his name. Not uncommon amongst those who seek
to live in the "bush," the individual apparently did not want to be identified
and he eluded all attempts to find him. I hope this helps to clarify matters.
My greatest hope as well is that my words and information comforted the
family of Randall McCloy, Jr, as well as the many others who have suffered
from the cruel ravages of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Thank you and be well,
Catherine Mormile, DPT
Wasilla, Alaska
January, 14, 2006"
- Email to Margery Glickman and the Sled Dog Action Coalition on January
14, 2006
What kind of medical treatment should the mushers have immediately
received?
Glasgow Coma Scale:
"Traditionally, the method of assessing the
neurologic normality of a patient is the use of the Glasgow Coma Scale
and the general orientation questions."
- Eric P. Kindwall, MD and Harry T. Whelan, MD, editors. Hyperbaric
Medicine Practice, Flagstaff: Best Publishing Company, 1995
Emergency medical care:
"If you have any of the signs and symptoms of carbon
monoxide poisoning, go to a hospital emergency department, particularly
if several people in the household are affected...."
- eMedicine Health website
Blood tests:
"Because signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning
are not specific, a blood test to look for it is the best way to make
the diagnosis."
- eMedicine Health website
EKGs:
"An EKG should be obtained in all patients with
or without symptoms, and if abnormal (commonly sinus tachycardia and ST-changes),
serial creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) determinations
should be performed, and the patient kept under close observation."
- The Internet Journal of Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine website
In
the years since this poisoning incident has the Iditarod changed any of
its rules?
There
are still no rules which require medical doctors to be on the trail, or
for there to be emergency medical equipment for them to use. The
rules say mushers may only use accommodations at officially authorized
locations, but the Iditarod has no rules regarding the safety of these
accommodations.
The Iditarod administration doesn't seem to care about the health, safety
and welfare of the mushers any more than they care about the health safety
and welfare of the dogs.
Iditarod veterinarians violate Alaska law
When someone who is only licensed to practice veterinary medicine practices
on a human, he is practicing medicine without a license in violation of
Alaska law Sec.08.64.170.
Iditarod rules do not require medical doctors to be on the trail to treat
the mushers.
Veterinarians give Paul Gebhart dogs' antibiotics:
"[Paul] Gebhardt personally is having a tough time.
He's been sick with flu-like symptoms since the race's start. Veterinarians
have been helping out by giving Gebhardt a few of their canine antibiotics."
- Jon Little, Cabela's Iditarod website, March 10, 2007
- Little formerly wrote for the Anchorage Daily News.
Veterinarian clips nerves that got in Martin Buser's way:
"While in Rohn, one of the race veterinarians
looked at it [Buser's middle finger], and was a little taken aback by
what he saw. 'I had some nerves sticking out, drying out, and getting
in my way,' Buser recalled. He asked the vet to cut the nerves away. The
veterinarian reluctantly agreed and made the snips."
- Jon Little, Cabela's website, March 11, 2005
Little formerly wrote for the Anchorage Daily News
Veterinarian sews up cut:
"His sled dug in, he soared up in the air, and in
the flip cut his knee, a three-four-inch gash. In Skwentna, Redington
was looking for first aid, but no one was around to help. So he called
for his old pal Terry Adkins. The mushing veterinarian was nearby with
his team and he sewed up Redington's cut.
'I was afraid I was going to get socked with malpractice for practicing
human medicine, ' said Adkins."
- Freedman, Lew. Father of the Iditarod, Kenmore: Epicenter Press,
1999
Veterinarian treats Paul Ellering's wound:
"At the table across from where I was sitting sat
a vet. 'How is it going?' she asked me."
"I pulled up the leg of my mushing suit, and then the long john leg, exposing
the hole. 'I dono'o--you be the judge.' 'That should have stitches,' she
said smartly. 'Hell' I said, 'my whole body is one giant zipper. What's
another scar to scar face?' She frowned and went back into her vet bag,
taking out a red liquid. Then she smiled.... It burned like hell."
- Paul Ellering. Wrestling the Iditarod, Bend: Maverick Publications,
2005
Rules
do not require Iditarod to find missing dogs
Although the Iditarod has many resources at its
disposal, the rules do not require it to find or help find dogs who are
lost during the race.
- Iditarod website
Cindy
Gallea looks for her lost dogs:
"Iditarod
officials say that Montana musher Cindy Gallea left the checkpoint this
morning but lost two of her dogs in route to Rohn. She is looking for
them now."
- Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Radio, March 6, 2007
Articles
about the Iditarod
Dog deaths
Poor veterinary
care
Mushers
mistreat their dogs during race
Dog injuries,
sicknesses and extreme stress
Greed
fuels the Iditarod
Abuse
in kennels
Cruel
dog training
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|
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