Dog Deaths and Near-Death Incidents At least 142 dogs have been run to death or have died from other causes in the Iditarod. There is no official count of dog deaths available for the race's early years. Get facts: Dog deaths and near-death incidents   A dog is being dragged on the ice. He may be dead or unconscious. The musher may be sleeping. Read about mushers sleeping while dogs race [click for a larger image] 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 dogs get poor veterinary care Iditarod Race Facts This dog's picture was taken at the kennel of a leading musher. [click for a larger image] Read about abuse in kennels Read about cruel dog training   The Iditarod is a dog sled race held every March in Alaska. The Iditarod begins the first Saturday in March. In this race mushers (dog sled drivers) force their dogs to run 1,150 miles from Anchorage to Nome in 8 to 16 days over a grueling terrain. This is the approximate distance between Los Angeles and Seattle, New York City and Miami, Chicago and Houston. Mushers press their dogs to run at ever increasing speeds, so that the dogs get little rest or sleep. John Baker holds the speed record for a musher using a GPS-- 8 days, 18 hours, 46 minutes. Martin Buser holds the speed record for a musher not using a GPS-- 8 days, 22 hours and 46 minutes. Both records are less than half the time it took to run the first Iditarod race. No dog wants to run so far and so fast. Dog’s beating left me appalled, sick and shocked (Letter to the Editor, Whitehorse Star, February 23, 2011) "It is around one year ago today as I write this, fewer than two weeks before the legendary 2011 Iditarod race start, that, as a dog handler at a private kennel location in Alaska, I witnessed the extremely violent beating of an Iditarod racing dog by one of the racing industry’s most high-profile top 10 mushers. Be assured the beating was clearly not within an 'acceptable range' of 'discipline'. Indeed, the scene left me appalled, sick and shocked. After viewing an individual sled dog repeatedly booted with full force, the male person doing the beating jumping back and forth like a pendulum with his full body weight to gain full momentum and impact. He then alternated his beating technique with full-ranging, hard and fast, closed-fist punches like a piston to the dog as it was held by its harness splayed onto the ground. He then staggeringly lifted the dog by the harness with two arms above waist height, then slammed the dog into the ground with full force, again repeatedly, all of this repeatedly. The other dogs harnessed into the team were barking loudly and excitedly, jumping and running around frenzied in their harnesses. The attack was sustained, continuing for several minutes perhaps over four minutes, within view at least, until the all-terrain vehicle I was a passenger on turned a curve on the converging trails, and the scene disappeared from view. This particular dog was just under 10 days out from commencing racing in the long distance Iditarod race. It was later seen to have survived the attack, although bloodied as a result. Personally, I have never witnessed such a violent attack on a living creature before. The image of that explosion of anger and physical force of one man on a smaller animal is burnt to my memory." - Jane Stevens, Australia Dog beaten with shovel "I bought one of my dogs from a musher who bragged about beating him with a shovel. The musher's son collaborated* this and was amused by the abuse." *GB Jones wrote "collaborated" but probably meant to write "corroborated." Mr. Jones raced in the 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2011 Iditarods. - Jones, GB. Winning the Iditarod: The GB Jones Story, Wasilla: Northern Publishing, 2005 Dear Abby - The signs of an abuser are: "(9) Cruelty to animals and to children: Kills or punishes animals brutally." - Dear Abby, The Kansas City Star, March 24, 2011 More facts about cruel dog training Iditarod dog sicknesses and injuries How do mushers mistreat dogs during the race? Help the dogs The Untold Story of Iditarod Drug Testing Iditarod dog study wastes tax dollars

 

Facts | Quotes | Help the dogs | News | Dog Care Mushers | Recreational Mushing | Links | Home A Kid's Thoughts