Jennifer O'Connor, People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA)
March 2013
[Ed. Note: This year's Iditarod
began on March 2. As of this morning, March 5, only day three, 74 dogs have
been dropped. A total of 1040 dogs started the race (65 mushers x 16
dogs).]
Alaska’s Iditarod dog-sled race may be on its last legs. Warmer weather has
forced several qualifying events to be postponed, rerouted or canceled. Some
mushers are now breeding dogs with thinner coats. One admitted that for the
dogs, running on hard ground devoid of snow is “like running on a cheese
grater.” Dogs forced to participate in the grueling Iditarod must run more
than 100 miles a day for 10 to 12 days straight over some of the most
difficult terrain on the planet. For them, the end of this cruel race cannot
come soon enough.
Mushers ride, eat and sleep while the dogs pull and pull and pull. The
official Iditarod rules require only that the dogs be provided 40 hours of
rest—in total—even though the race can take up to two weeks. On average,
three dogs die in every Iditarod. Rule 42 of the Iditarod rules blithely
dismisses some deaths as "unpreventable." Among the dead dogs is 3-year-old
Kate, who was allegedly beaten and kicked because she sat down and refused
to get up.
But dogs who die during the Iditarod are a drop in the bucket compared to
the overall death toll. It’s no secret that mushers have little use for dogs
who just aren’t inclined to bring them glory. Breeders and commercial sled
operations treat dogs like disposable inventory.
At least 100 dogs were shot and stabbed and buried in a pit at a
dog-sledding operation in Whistler, British Columbia, after business slowed
down. Some of the dogs, maimed and bleeding, tried to crawl their way out of
the pile. The man responsible for the carnage was given probation, no jail
time and a $1,500 fine. It’s legal to shoot dogs to death.
Krabloonik Kennels, the largest tourist dog-sledding operation in the United
States, routinely shot “surplus” dogs in the back of the head and buried the
bodies in a fecal-filled hole workers called the “s**t pit.” The practice
was only stopped due to pubic outcry.
What’s unthinkable is that those dogs were the “lucky” ones. Racers and
commercial sled operators typically keep dogs tethered to plastic barrels,
metal oil drums or dilapidated doghouses. Dogs are never brought inside, and
they are fed slop, often just dumped on the ground. They can never enjoy any
of the pleasures that make a dog’s life worthwhile. Their entire worlds are
measured in a few square feet of urine-soaked, fecal-packed dirt.
Since pastimes often morph into problems, many mushers tire of the chores,
particularly when the dogs fail to bring them recognition or riches. Because
dogs are frequently kept in isolated locations and are not inspected by any
regulatory agency, there’s no way of knowing how many dogs have starved or
frozen to death. But multiple cases that have come to light are consistent:
dogs abandoned to die slow, agonizing deaths. How many Alaskan and Canadian
backcountries are filled with skeletons attached to chains?
It’s 2013—why isn’t dog sledding in the history books? For now, the Iditarod
is being kept alive by tourists who want an “authentic” experience and by
some teachers who have their students “adopt” a musher, but the event’s days
are numbered. If Iditarod officials won’t do the right thing and end this
cruel and deadly race, Mother Nature just might do it for them.