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The Iditarod- Cruelty?

pirate_girl

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
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The Iditarod is Alaska's annual dogsled race, which is marked by cruelty, injuries, and death. Every year in the 1,150-plus-mile race, dogs die of hypothermia, gastric ulcers, and "sled dog myopathy"—literally being run to death.

Dogs are forced to run for hours at a time, and rest is a limited luxury. They are subjected to subzero temperatures, biting winds, and blinding snowstorms, and they sometimes fall through the ice into frigid water. Their feet become bruised and bloodied, and they are cut by ice and the frozen ground. Along the seemingly endless stretch, dogs pull muscles, incur stress fractures, or become sick with diarrhea, dehydration, or intestinal viruses.

In 2008, Zaster, a 7-year-old male, died of pneumonia on March 8, and the next day, a 3-year-old female named Lorne was killed when a snowmachiner ran into a dog team on the Yukon River. In addition, two dogs were abandoned by their musher when they left the team and she was unable to locate them. In 2007, at least three dogs perished, one dog went missing for 11 days, and a musher was disqualified from the race for reportedly kicking his dogs and beating them with ski poles. Four dogs died in 2006, and at least three dogs died in 2005. More than one-third of the dogs who start the Iditarod never finish.



http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/iditarod_09/ 
 
Nope the dogs love it, they a bred for it. Now throw in the human equation and it then depends on the musher and how they are managed. Some are good, some are bad.

The company I work for is sponsoring a team this year. I'm confident our musher is a responsible owner.

Iditarod Update​
2-15-09​



  • [*]In November of 2008, GP decided to sponsor an Iditarod team (Tom Thurston of TT Kennel) as part of our new advertising / branding campaign.
    [*]The attached advertisement and photos of his lead dogs (Darla and Elton) are examples of our progress with this very important effort.
    [*]This campaign is even more important to me personally, since Tom Thurston (our musher) lives in my town and is a personal friend.
    [*]Only 73 mushers from around the globe will compete this year, and Tom has been very busy with last minute preparations for this brutal 1100 mile race across Alaska:
·He shipped 1800 pounds of dog food to the 22 checkpoints (by bush plane) last week.
·He finalized his sleep strategy and gear for 14 nights at up to 60 degrees below zero.
·He built two custom sleds (one light - for crossing the Alaska Range, and one fast – for the flatter second half of the race).
·He selected his 16 dogs, slowed the training, and began fattening up the team.
·He shipped a mountain of gear (lithium batteries, chemical warmers, food, clothing etc…) in vacuum packages to every checkpoint.


  • [*]Tom’s supporters will host his final fundraiser on Feb 20th, we pack on Feb 21st, and he begins driving to Alaska with the dogs on Feb 22nd.
    [*]The race begins on March 7th, 2009.
    [*]You can learn more or track Tom’s progress (and even donate a few dollars to his cause) at www.ttkennel.com or www.ititarod.com.
    Notice the reference in the pdf of Big Dogs
 

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PG,

Look at the source (PETA). Now, put down the cool-aid...
 
bczoom said:
PG,

Look at the source (PETA). Now, put down the cool-aid...
Click to expand...

??
I wanted to get some opinions on this from the forum members.
Personally, I've had a love for the race since the days of Susan Butcher RIP.
You can take your foot out of your assuming mouth now.
 
Big Dog said:
Nope the dogs love it, they a bred for it. Now throw in the human equation and it then depends on the musher and how they are managed. Some are good, some are bad.

The company I work for is sponsoring a team this year. I'm confident our musher is a responsible owner.

Iditarod Update​
2-15-09​
Click to expand...
Nice Doggie :)
 
Couple pics of the dogs he referred to in the earlier post
 

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Sorry, I didn't include smileys but no insult intended.

The event is a commemoration of an emergency delivery of Diphtheria Serum to Nome, Alaska.

I do agree with Big Dog. These types of dogs just love doing this. Disease and accidents happen to all breeds. I've had Samoyed's, Husky's... You put a harness on them and they just want to pull. I used to let them pull kids around the yard on sleds. As for running, they can just do it for hours and hours on end.
 
bczoom said:
Sorry, I didn't include smileys but no insult intended.

The event is a commemoration of an emergency delivery of Diphtheria Serum to Nome, Alaska.

I do agree with Big Dog. These types of dogs just love doing this. Disease and accidents happen to all breeds. I've had Samoyed's, Husky's... You put a harness on them and they just want to pull. I used to let them pull kids around the yard on sleds. As for running, they can just do it for hours and hours on end.
Click to expand...

It's ok Brian, I thought you were thinking I was protesting the race with the PETA link.
Never.:smile:
 
It's more cruel for someone to own a working dog and live in an apartment in the city.

Anyone that owns a working dog has a responsibility to make sure that dog gets to work.
 
My cabin is on the Iditarod trail. You can sit inside and watch them go by. The guy that started the race if still alive his original homestead would be one of my closest neighbors. I have met these dogs on the trail and it is pretty obvious they are doing what they love to do. We have to be really careful when snow machining as they often use the same trails , and the only noise they make is a lot of panting. There used to be teams raised and trained on our lake. An older friend out there had a team and tried to convince me to buy his team he would feed them and train them and I could train with them and race. I considered it briefly , then read a book written by the first woman that won the race. After reading her book I decided I wasn't tough enough. The people that are competitive at this are tougher than nails. Just like the dogs they run. Dogs getting harnessed up are like a bunch of kids going to a candy store, they can hardly wait. I think if most people experienced these dogs racing first hand they would change their opinion about the dogs being abused.

Flathorn
 
flathorn said:
My cabin is on the Iditarod trail. You can sit inside and watch them go by. The guy that started the race if still alive his original homestead would be one of my closest neighbors. I have met these dogs on the trail and it is pretty obvious they are doing what they love to do. We have to be really careful when snow machining as they often use the same trails , and the only noise they make is a lot of panting. There used to be teams raised and trained on our lake. An older friend out there had a team and tried to convince me to buy his team he would feed them and train them and I could train with them and race. I considered it briefly , then read a book written by the first woman that won the race. After reading her book I decided I wasn't tough enough. The people that are competitive at this are tougher than nails. Just like the dogs they run. Dogs getting harnessed up are like a bunch of kids going to a candy store, they can hardly wait. I think if most people experienced these dogs racing first hand they would change their opinion about the dogs being abused.

Flathorn
Click to expand...

Wow Flathorn, I really enjoyed your post.
As stated above, I became a big fan of the race sometime in the mid 80s.
Susan Butcher was such an amazing woman.
I have her "Alaska's Great Race" on DVD and video.:biggrin:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB5e_eEJsn4"]YouTube - Alaska's Iditarod, The Susan Butcher Story. Emmy Winner pt 1[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCEajr_jJx8&feature=related"]YouTube - Alaskan Iditarod, The Susan Butcher Story. Emmy Winner pt 2[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia20han0gtU&feature=related"]YouTube - Alaska Sports Hall of Fame: Susan Butcher[/ame]
 
Nothing wrong with doing this as long as the dogs are well cared for and I would say most are. True lovers of this sport and race would most likely woop the dogsh%^ out of someone mistreating the dogs! Nothing different than our old dog Duke, come bird season he was itching to get to the fields, he would run and run and run, but find birds and he walked on his toes to point to them for us. He was the finest dog I have ever seen in the field........and he was well cared for in his long and fullfilling life.

Hats off to those that have the stamina to do this, and hats off and heads busted to those that would hurt this race and any animal in it........
 
Well DDRAINE I am glad they have YOUR approval! OK Alaskans You can go ahead and have the race now. Its "OK" with DDRAINE.

Has someone passed around some special PETA coolaid of late?
 
PG,
These dogs are beeter cared for than any other animal on this planet. They are part of these racers family. Not just pets. PETA has once again shown they are whack jobs. Hell these Dogs are better cared for than DDranes birds and tigers! Hell they are even better cared for than his caged Lions!
 
I DO hope everyone watches the attached videos.
It really shows a lot about what it takes to be a musher, and what happens when tragedy strikes on the trail, what the mushers go through for the duration.
I like Rick Swenson too.. I'll be rooting for him to win. :)

Mushers List
 
Snowcat Operations said:
PG,
These dogs are beeter cared for than any other animal on this planet. They are part of these racers family. Not just pets. PETA has once again shown they are whack jobs. Hell these Dogs are better cared for than DDranes birds and tigers! Hell they are even better cared for than his caged Lions!
Click to expand...
Mikey.. settle down :yum:
I KNOW how well they are cared for.
Didn't ya know I posted PETA's gripe just to get all your opinions?
 
Snowcat Operations said:
PG,
These dogs are beeter cared for than any other animal on this planet. They are part of these racers family. Not just pets. PETA has once again shown they are whack jobs. Hell these Dogs are better cared for than DDranes birds and tigers! Hell they are even better cared for than his caged Lions!
Click to expand...


Sir, I dont have caged lions! Get a clue, that is not what my pics are. those cages as you call them are acres of fence, each giving the animal lots of room. Each one of those cats is well cared for, well fed..........at an estimated over 1 million dollars worth of donated cows, horses and other farm animals that have died natural deaths. Now if you will draw in the claws, I have done nothing to you, I am not a peta fan, I actually used to hunt, not physically able now, and I still support hunting as a sport that feeds people..............
 
Snowcat Operations said:
Well DDRAINE I am glad they have YOUR approval! OK Alaskans You can go ahead and have the race now. Its "OK" with DDRAINE.

Has someone passed around some special PETA coolaid of late?
Click to expand...


Ok, asking nicely, draw in the claws, I have done nothing to you. I know what I saw in the other post, I am right, no doubt. If you want to keep up with the picking, be my guest.............you can not in anyway bother me, but you sure look like a buthead..........oh and taking rep points is childish behavior, specially since you had no idea of what you were talking about with my pics.......................NOT A CLUE!
 
Pirate Girl, I know you mentioned Susan Butcher, she has had lots of publicity over the years, but she was not the first woman that won the race. Libby Riddles was the first woman to win the race. The year I do not remember. She wrote a book about her experience. The book was pretty interesting in my opinion. One of our neighbors ran the race I think at least twice. I never looked up to see how well she did. Sue Firmin is her name. In the evenings sometimes the dogs howl and we could hear them about 2 miles away.
Frank Reddington started the race. His original homestead is directly across the lake from my cabin. I have heard in the early years there were as many as 100 sled dogs on our lake being raised annd trained. Frank ran the race himself clear into his 70s, and I think finished most of the time.

Flathorn
 
flathorn said:
Pirate Girl, I know you mentioned Susan Butcher, she has had lots of publicity over the years, but she was not the first woman that won the race.Libby Riddles was the first woman to win the race. The year I do not remember. She wrote a book about her experience. The book was pretty interesting in my opinion. One of our neighbors ran the race I think at least twice. I never looked up to see how well she did. Sue Firmin is her name. In the evenings sometimes the dogs howl and we could hear them about 2 miles away.
Frank Reddington started the race. His original homestead is directly across the lake from my cabin. I have heard in the early years there were as many as 100 sled dogs on our lake being raised annd trained. Frank ran the race himself clear into his 70s, and I think finished most of the time.

Flathorn
Click to expand...
Yes, I've read up on Libby Riddles too over the years, and what an accomplishment. :)
For some reason, Susan Butcher's life and involvement in the race just touched me very deeply.
Awesome :smile:
 
Where I live in Alaska, there is a number of Iditarod winners/racers.

I sponsored Rick Mackey for a number of years and really looked forward to going to the Musher's Banquets and such.

There is a lot of dog mushers that run dogs just for the joy of being out in the wilderness and moving along in the quiet of the day with only the sound of the dogs panting and the sled hissing along on the trail and many never give it a thought about racing.

Now for the dogs issues in the Iditarod.

Every year there is a couple of dog deaths, none for the most part are attributed to someone abusing their dogs (there are a couple of examples, but rare), most mushers put their dogs ahead of their own needs.

You have about 80 mushers on the race plus or minus each year, but will use that number for example.

Most teams start with about 14 dogs, so 80 X 14 is 1120 dogs, the average life span of that sized dog is about 13 years or so on the average. So out of 1120 dogs divided by 13 years should have an average death rate of 86 dogs a year.

These dogs are not the average though, they are in very good shape, Vets check them at every checkpoint, any abuse seen by the vets will cause the racer to be expelled, sometimes for life.

You can't make the dogs run, if they are tired, they "Crash", that is where the whole team just stops and lays down, there is nothing you can do to make them go any farther until they are rested. All the musher can do is break out the cooker and make them some broth and a bit of food and let them rest. When they are ready to run, they will let the musher know it.

The causes of dogs deaths have ranged from the dogs being stomped to death by moose on the trail, dog fights between teams, hit by snowmachiners that in some cases have been drinking, heart attacks in older dogs and other unrelated oddities. But abuse isn't one of them, nor is it tolerated.

What amazes me at the start of the race or just when the dogs are going on a training run, they are as excited as if a person asked their own dog if he/she wanted to go for a ride. They get all excited and can barely contain themselves jumping around all over the place. They love to run and enjoy the trail.

Normally, the lead dog(s) is more like the family member to the musher, but all the dogs are treated fairly well, I don't like the dog lots per say, where the dogs are contained in a small area, but most are taken care of and let off to run around daily (not in all cases, but most).

Many of the dogs are not the household type breeds, they are closer to wolf than Fido you have at home, again, there are exceptions... One year a guy raced giant Poodles and they froze to the ground because they don't have guard hair to keep warm. They had to use a hair dryer to get them unfrozen from the ground. Since then all "Non Traditional" sled dog breeds are banned from the race, which is good.

I myself prefer the snowmachine, I park it and turn off the key and walk away until the next ride with an occasional grease and overall check. Mushers live for their dogs all year, my snowmachine sits under a tarp till winter again raises it's white head....
 
flathorn said:
Pirate Girl, I know you mentioned Susan Butcher, she has had lots of publicity over the years, but she was not the first woman that won the race. Libby Riddles was the first woman to win the race. The year I do not remember. She wrote a book about her experience. The book was pretty interesting in my opinion. One of our neighbors ran the race I think at least twice. I never looked up to see how well she did. Sue Firmin is her name. In the evenings sometimes the dogs howl and we could hear them about 2 miles away.
Frank Reddington started the race. His original homestead is directly across the lake from my cabin. I have heard in the early years there were as many as 100 sled dogs on our lake being raised annd trained. Frank ran the race himself clear into his 70s, and I think finished most of the time.

Flathorn
Click to expand...


The late Lolly Medley was one of the two women first to race the Iditarod, she lived near where I am at. She was a pretty hard worker and made dog harnesses in her off time, the Iditarod has a ‘Lolly Medley’ Golden Harness Award that is given out after each race.

I use to plow out the road to her "Off Grid" cabin in the early 90's, she couldn't afford much to pay me, and what I charged her didn't pay for the gas for the plow, but she was such a hard worker, that was enough.

Her son Ramey Smyth carries on with her dream of running the race.
 
Wow, and to think i almost watched cartoons this morning instead of reading this. This is much more entertaining. All we need now is a commercial break from a guy sharpening knives.:yum:
 
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