Iditarod Sled Race

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The Iditarod is described by the Iditarod Trail Committee and by the Alaskan media as an exciting contest of man against nature. What the descriptions do not tell us is the untold suffering of the dogs that often give their lives in this race. Dog deaths and injuries are common in the Iditarod, and when they are not racing, the dogs live under inhumane conditions.

Iditarod Race Facts



He cannot speak for himself but you can. This dog's picture was taken at the kennel of a leading musher.

Read about abuse in kennels
www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks-abuseinkennels.htm

The Iditarod is a dog sled race held every March in Alaska.
In this race mushers (dog sled drivers) force their dogs to run 1,150 miles from Anchorage to Nome in 8 to 15 days over a grueling terrain.
This is the approximate distance between Los Angeles and Seattle, New York and Orlando, Chicago and Houston.
Mushers press their dogs to run at ever increasing speeds, so that the dogs get little rest or sleep. The current speed record is 8 days, 22 hours and 46 minutes, less than half the time it took to run the first Iditarod race.
No dog wants to run so far and so fast.


www.helpsleddogs.org/faq.htm

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How many dogs have died in the Iditarod?


In almost all of the Iditarod races, at least one dog death has occurred. The first race is reported to have resulted in the deaths of 15 to 19 dogs. In 1997, the Anchorage Daily News reported that "at least 107 (dogs) have died." In the years since that report, 12 more dogs have died in the Iditarod, bringing the grand total of dogs who have died in the Iditarod to at least 120. There is no official count of dog deaths available for the race's early years and this count relies only on a reported number of deaths.

Causes of death during the last ten years have included strangulation in towlines, internal hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a condition in which a dog's muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also been blamed. In 1985 a musher kicked his dog to death. The 1975 Iditarod winner, Jerry Riley, was banned for life in 1990 after being accused of striking his dog with a snow hook (a large, sharp and heavy metal claw). In 1996 Rick Swenson's dog died while he mushed his team through waist-deep water and ice.


How many dogs die after the race?

The Iditarod Trail Committee does not release information about dogs who die after the race.



A dog chained to his exercise wheel may have trouble getting into his shelter.


How many dogs have died or have been injured while training for the Iditarod?

We simply do not know how many dogs die or are injured during their intensive and grueling training for the race. Most mushers train their dogs in the remote areas of rural Alaska; consequently, their activities cannot be monitored. As part of their training, many mushers force their dogs to pull very heavy loads, which can cause hip and spine injuries.


Are dogs sick and injured during the race?

Some injuries and disorders that occur during the race include spinal injuries, bone fractures, sore and cut paws, ruptured tendon sheaths, torn muscles, sore joints, dehydration, stress and diarrhea. Intestinal infections occur when mushers feed their dogs food contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. When temperatures rise, dog food dropped off and left outside during the race often spoils. On average, 50% of the dogs who start the race cannot make it across the finish line.


Does the Iditarod violate accepted standards regarding animal cruelty?

The Iditarod violates accepted standards regarding animal cruelty as is shown by the laws of 38 states and the District of Columbia. These 38 states and the District of Columbia have animal anti-cruelty laws that say "overdriving" and "overworking" an animal is animal cruelty.

The California law is typical:

"597. Cruelty to animals. ( Every person who overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks... any animal... is, for every such offense, guilty of a crime punishable as a misdemeanor or as a felony or alternatively punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony"

How do the Iditarod dogs live when they are not racing?

The Iditarod Dog Sled Race has led to an increase in the number of husky dog kennels in Alaska. In these kennels, many dogs are treated cruelly. Many kennels have more than 100 dogs. Some have as many as 200 dogs. None of the kennels is inspected or supervised by the State of Alaska. Mushers raise many dogs hoping that a few will be strong enough to run in the race.

Do these mushers cull or kill unwanted dogs?

Culling is a common practice among mushers. The Iditarod mushers breed many dogs, hoping to get a few who will be fast enough to race. According to an article in the Anchorage Daily News, "Killing unwanted sled-dog puppies is part of doing business" (October 6, 1991), most of the mushers cull by shooting their dogs in the head. An animal who is not properly restrained when the musher shoots may suffer an agonizing death. Mushers also cull dogs who are injured in the Iditarod, old but otherwise healthy dogs, or any dog who is not wanted for any reason. Musher Lorraine Temple said, "They (the big racing outfits) can't keep a dog who's a mile an hour too slow" (Currents, Fall, 1999).




Are Iditarod dogs kept permanently tethered on short chains?

In many kennels, dogs spend their entire lives outside chained up to their dog house. In these musher's kennels, a dog can have a chain as short as four feet long. In 1997, the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHI determined that the permanent tethering of dogs, as the primary means of enclosure, was inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The permanent chaining of dogs is prohibited in all cases where federal law applies.

Some reasons why permanent tethering is cruel are as follows:

1) A dog who is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate where he sleeps, which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his living area.

2) Because the chained dog is always close to his own fecal material, he can easily catch deadly parasitical diseases by stepping in or sniffing his own waste. The ground within the dog's chained area may have a high concentration of parasite larvae.

3) Even if the fecal matter is picked up, the area where the dog can move about becomes hard-packed dirt that carries the stench of animal waste. The odor and the waste attract flies which bite the dog's ears, often causing serious bloody wounds and permanent tissue damage.

4) Continuous chaining psychologically damages dogs and makes many of them aggressive animals.

5) Dogs who forced to live on a chain are easy targets for stinging bites from insects and attacks by other other animals.

6) The tethers can become entangled with other objects, which can choke or strangle a dog to death.

7) The neck of a chained dog often becomes raw and covered with sores in part due to the dog's constant yanking and straining to escape confinement.

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Sample Letter:

Dear

I understand your organization is associated with the Iditarod, and I would like to bring some facts to your attention. This race is condemned by animal protection groups and animal lovers across the United States. Please stop supporting this abusive race and all of the evils associated with it.

Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles over a grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days, which is the approximate distance between Orlando and New York City. Dog deaths and injuries are common in the race. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz said the race is "a barbaric ritual" and "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures, and for more information. Be sure to read the quotes on www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm. All of the material on the site is true and verifiable.

At least 126 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of dog deaths available for the race's early years. In "WinterDance: the Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod," Gary Paulsen describes witnessing an Iditarod musher brutally kicking a dog to death during the race. He wrote, "All the time he was kicking the dog. Not with the imprecision of anger, the kicks, not kicks to match his rage but aimed, clinical vicious kicks. Kicks meant to hurt deeply, to cause serious injury. Kicks meant to kill."

Causes of death have also included strangulation in towlines, internal hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a fatal condition in which a dog's muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also occurred. The 1976 Iditarod winner, Jerry Riley, was accused of striking his dog with a snow hook (a large, sharp and heavy metal claw). In 1996, one of Rick Swenson's dogs died while he mushed his team through waist-deep water and ice. The Iditarod Trail Committee banned both mushers from the race but later reinstated them. In many states these incidents would be considered animal cruelty. Swenson is now on the Iditarod Board of Directors.

In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for by inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold and died. Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40 years, tells us that the dogs are 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." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that "‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "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."

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to death. "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March, 2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or dragging them to their death."

The race has led to the proliferation of horrific dog kennels in which the dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100 dogs and some have as many as 200. It is standard for the dogs to spend their entire lives outside tethered to metal chains that can be as short as four feet long. In 1997 the United States Department of Agriculture determined that the tethering of dogs was inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The chaining of dogs as a primary means of enclosure is prohibited in all cases where federal law applies. A dog who is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate where he sleeps, which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his living area.

Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance of parole. Please end your organization's association with the Iditarod dog sled race.

Sincerely,

____________________________________________

Shorter Version:

I understand your organization is associated with the Iditarod, and I would like to bring some facts to your attention. This race is condemned by animal protection groups and by animal lovers all over the world.



In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles over a grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days, many dying of exhaustion and heart attacks on the way.

At least 126 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of dog deaths available for the race's early years. It is not unusual for dogs to be kicked to death by mushers, strangled by towlines, shot in the head when they are no longer useful and dragged or clubbed to death. Beating and whipping these dogs into submission is commonplace.


The outside kennels where the dogs are forced to live hold between 100 and 200 dogs. It is standard for the dogs to spend their entire lives outside tethered to metal chains that can be as short as four feet long.These poor creatures are permanently tethered and forced to urinate and defecate where they sleeps, conflicting with their natural instinct to eliminate away from his living area and is cruel to say the least.


Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures, and for more information.

Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance of parole. Please end your organization's association with the Iditarod dog sled race or I will be forced to boycott your company and its products,as well as pass this information on to whomever I can
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