Iditarod mushers drown innocent puppies

Originally Posted: January 11, 2013

Iditarod mushers drown innocent puppies

FROM Help Sled Dogs

ACTION

Iditarod dogs suffer horrendous cruelty every day of their lives. Please tell sponsors and promoters to end their support of this event. Mushers have drowned, shot, bludgeoned and dragged many dogs to death. For example, Iditarod musher Dave Olesen drowned a litter of newborn puppies. Another musher got rid of unwanted puppies by tying them in a bag and tossing the bag in a creek. Mushers even have a saying about not breeding dogs unless they can drown them:“ Those who cannot drown should not breed.” Terrible things happen to dogs during the Iditarod.  

Go here to find information so you can contact Iditarod race sponsors and promoters
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm#idit

Go here to find information so you can contact Iditarod musher supporters
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm#musher

SCROLL DOWN ON THOSE PAGES to find EMAIL BLOCKS and INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO CONTACT SPONSORS and PROMOTERS.

SAMPLE LETTER (please personalize)
 
Dear Iditarod Supporter:
 
Iditarod dogs suffer horrendous cruelty every day of  their lives. Please end your organization's support of this event. Mushers have drowned, shot, bludgeoned and dragged many dogs to death. For example, Iditarod  musher Dave Olesen drowned a litter of newborn puppies. Another musher got rid  of unwanted puppies by tying them in a bag and tossing the bag in a creek. Mushers even have a saying about not breeding dogs unless they can drown them:“ Those who cannot drown should not breed.” Terrible  things happen to dogs during the Iditarod. This includes: death, bloody diarrhea, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the  most!), bleeding ulcers, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases,  kennel cough, broken bones, torn muscles and extreme stress. At least 142 dogs have died in the race, including four dogs who froze to death in the brutal cold. Veterinary  care during the Iditarod is poor.  

In the 2012 race, one of Lance Mackey's male dogs ripped out all of his 16  toenails trying to get to a female who was in heat. This type of broken toenail  is extremely painful. Mackey, a four-time Iditarod winner, said he was too  stubborn to leave this dog at a checkpoint and veterinarians allowed Mackey to  continue to race him. Imagine the agony the dog was forced to  endure.

Here's another example: Veterinarians have allowed dogs with kennel cough to race in  the Iditarod even though dogs with this disease should be kept warm and given lots of rest. Strenuous exercise can cause lung damage, pneumonia and even  death. To make matters worse, kennel cough is a highly contagious disease that  normally lasts from 10 to 21 days. Iditarod  dogs endure brutal training.

Jeanne Olson, who has been a veterinarian in Alaska since 1988, confirmed the  brutality used by mushers training dogs for the Iditarod. She talked about dogs  having cracked ribs, broken jaws or skulls from mushers using two-by-fours for  punishment. In an article published by the University of Alaska, Dr. Olson said, "There are mushers out there whose philosophy is...that if that dog acts up, I will hit that dog to the point where it would rather die than do what it did, 'cause the next time it is gonna die.'"
 
MORE INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

Iditarod dogs suffer horrendous cruelty every day of their lives. Please help these dogs  by sending protest emails to the 2013 race supporters. Mushers have drowned,  shot, bludgeoned and dragged many dogs to death. For example, Iditarod musher  Dave Olesen drowned a litter of newborn puppies. Another musher got rid of  unwanted puppies by tying them in a bag and tossing the bag in a creek. Mushers  even have a saying about not breeding dogs unless they can drown them: “Those  who cannot drown should not breed.”
 
Terrible things happen to dogs during the Iditarod. This includes: death, bloody diarrhea, paralysis, frostbite (where  it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs,  viral diseases, kennel cough, broken bones, torn muscles and extreme stress. At  least 142 dogs have
died in the race, including four dogs who froze to death in  the brutal cold.
 
Veterinary care  during the Iditarod is poor. In the 2012 race, one of Lance Mackey's male dogs ripped out all of his 16 toenails trying to get to a female who was in heat. This type of broken toenail is extremely painful. Mackey, a four-time  Iditarod winner, said he was too stubborn to leave this dog at a checkpoint and  veterinarians allowed Mackey to continue to race him. Imagine the agony the dog  was forced to endure.
 
Here's another example: Veterinarians have allowed  dogs with kennel cough to race in the Iditarod even though dogs with this  disease should be kept warm and given lots of rest. Strenuous exercise can cause  lung damage, pneumonia and even death. To make matters worse, kennel cough is a  highly contagious disease that normally lasts from 10 to 21 days. 

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Thank you for everything you do for animals!

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