Alaska’s shame
Editors, Asheville Global Report,
Imagine your dog as part of a 16-dog sled team, running for 9-14
days in a 1,150 mile race. Add to the mix: sub-zero temperatures,
arctic winds, snowstorms, and ice. This is the Iditarod (starts Mar.
6). Such brutal treatment should be illegal, but the Iditarod is Alaska’s
biggest “sporting” event. The 120 recorded dog deaths are
discounted as a fraction of the animals that race.
Behind the scenes, the situation is even worse. Many dogs are bred,
but few are considered racing material. The unfit are culled —
shot in the head or beaten to death. Dogs are kept outdoors in sub-zero
temperatures, chained to dog houses. Alaskan resident, Tom Classen,
has stated, “These dogs are beaten into submission the same way
elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it....They
are all lying.” We are told that the dogs love to run. You would
too if you were continuously tethered on a short chain. You would
also be inclined to run if you were whipped (no rules against it).
Should the dogs become too tired or sick to run, they are dragged
along, sometimes flipping on their backs.
On average, 54 percent of the dogs who start the race do not finish.
Many dogs have bloody feet, lung damage, pulled muscles, and stress
fractures. Some dogs die because their muscles and organs deteriorate
from the extreme exercise. Others die because of strangulation in
tow lines, internal hemorrhaging, liver injury, heart failure, and
pneumonia. The dogs can work so hard that they can’t stop gasping
for air, choking on their own vomit. Deaths occurring after the race
aren’t included in the official statistics. Mushers are required
to rest their dogs for one twenty-four hour period and two eight-hour
periods, but the race can last two weeks. One musher had eight dogs
left and 401 miles to the finish line, but only took one 9 minute
rest stop.
Veterinarians say that in a grueling race, injury and death are expected.
Physical exams are not required at checkpoints, and the mushers can
overrule veterinarians’recommendations. Regular doses of pain
killers are given to fight inflammation and pain, causing gastric
ulcers.
Please write to the sponsors (www.helpsleddogs.org). Major corporations
have dropped out after hearing about the cruelty. Even Susan Butcher,
a four-time Iditarod winner, has publicly stated, “We (dog mushers)
wouldn’t as a group, pass anybody’s idea of humane treatment
of animals.”
Terri David
Asheville, NC
Editors, Asheville GLobal Report,
My reading of your paper has been sporadic of late (my loss) - but
I wanted to make sure you knew that last month’s Utne Reader
proudly cited the “Asheville Global Report” as one of the
outstanding publications that ran underreported stories of 2003.
There with national magazines the likes of Mother Jones, The Progressive,
The Nation, and other newspapers was a listing for Asheville’s
own independent voice.
Keep up the good work.
George Peery
Asheville, NC
