Mushers Chase Prize Money While Dogs Pay the Ultimate Price, Says Group
For Immediate Release:
March 21, 2013
Contact:
Kaitlynn Kelly 202-483-7382
Today, PETA sent a letter to Alaska Airlines President Brad Tilden urging him to permanently pull the company's sponsorship of the cruel and deadly Iditarod race in Alaska. PETA's letter comes in the wake of the 2013 race, in which a dog named Dorado suffocated after being buried in snow 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 a dog named Kate, who died of injuries after she was allegedly beaten by her musher. In the Iditarod's sordid 41-year history, more than 140 dogs have died and countless others have been seriously injured.
"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 the cash prize and Alaska Airlines and other sponsors' money, it's the dogs who pay the ultimate price."
Dogs forced to run the grueling Iditarod commonly endure bloodied paws, lung damage, and bleeding ulcers, among other conditions. Because of its inherent cruelty, the Iditarod has steadily lost sponsors over the years, including Nestlé, Rite Aid, Panasonic, Safeway, Maxwell House, True Value Hardware, BP, Sherwin-Williams, Upjohn, Tropicana, Pizza Hut, Costco, and Pfizer.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
PETA's letter to Alaska Airlines President Brad Tilden follows.
March 21, 2013
Brad Tilden, President
Alaska Airlines
Dear Mr. Tilden,
We are writing on behalf of PETA and our more than 3 million members and supporters to ask you to discontinue your sponsorship of the Iditarod. Supporting an event in which dogs routinely suffer and die cannot be justified.
The Iditarod's 1,000-plus-mile course means that dogs run about 100 miles a day for 10 days straight. The official Iditarod rules require that the dogs be provided with only 40 hours of rest—during the entire race. Dogs are subjected to biting winds, blinding snowstorms, and falls through treacherous ice into frigid water. Their feet become bruised, bloodied, and just plain worn out because of the vast distances they cover. Many dogs pull muscles, or become sick with diarrhea, dehydration, intestinal viruses, or bleeding stomach ulcers. "Overdriving" or "overworking" an animal is considered a violation of cruelty-to-animals laws in most states—but not in Alaska.
Just last week, a dog named Dorado suffocated after being buried in snow at a drop checkpoint. A dog named May was lost on the trail and missing for six days. At least 21 dogs have died just since 2005, including 3-year-old Kate, who was allegedly beaten and kicked by her musher because she sat down and refused to get up; Thong, a 3-year-old male, who apparently died of acute pneumonia; and Snickers, a 6-year-old female, who died from an acute hemorrhage caused by a gastric ulcer. Rule 42 of the official Iditarod rules blithely dismisses some deaths as "unpreventable."
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.
We hope you'll agree that Alaska Airlines should not be supporting a race in which dogs are put at risk and routinely pay with their lives. May we hear that you've decided to make the ethical business decision to pull your sponsorship as many other companies have already done? Thank you for your time.
Yours truly,
David Byer
Senior Corporate Liaison