Racers Chase Prize Money While Dogs Pay the Ultimate Price, Says Group
For Immediate Release:
March 21, 2013
Contact:
Kaitlynn Kelly 202-483-7382
Anchorage, Alaska -- Today, PETA sent a letter to executives at ExxonMobil, Alaska Airlines, Wells Fargo, and all 26 other Iditarod sponsors urging them to pull out of the race permanently. PETA's letter comes in the wake of the 2013 race, in which a dog named Dorado suffocated after being buried in snow at a drop checkpoint and another named May was lost on the trail and missing for six days. In the letter, PETA points out that just since 2005, at least 21 dogs have died in the race, including 3-year-old Kate, who was allegedly beaten and kicked by her musher because she sat down and refused to get up. In the Iditarod's sordid 41-year history, more than 140 dogs have died and countless others have been seriously injured—including from outright abuse.
"The proof is in 41 years of suffering and death: The only way to make the Iditarod safe for dogs is to cancel it permanently," says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. "While mushers are consumed with chasing sponsorship money and the cash prize, it's the dogs who pay the ultimate price."
The Iditarod's course of more than 1,000 miles means that dogs run about 100 miles a day for 10 days straight. The official Iditarod rules require that the dogs be given only 40 hours of rest—in total. Dogs are subjected to biting winds, blinding snowstorms, subzero temperatures, and falls through treacherous ice into frigid water. Their feet become bruised, bloodied, cut by ice, and just plain worn-out because of the vast distances that they cover. Many dogs pull muscles or become sick with diarrhea, dehydration, intestinal viruses, or bleeding stomach ulcers.
Dogs have been strangled by tow lines, trampled by moose, frozen to death, and hit by snowmobiles and sleds. On average, more than half the dogs who start the race don't make it across the finish line. According to a report published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 81 percent of those who do finish have lung damage.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.