Iditarod ordeal renews debate over animal cruelty
Published Saturday, March 21, 2009
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Iditarod 2009
Sixty-seven mushers set out on the 1,100 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to Nome on March 8, 2009. Here are some of the scenes from the trail.
WASILLA, Alaska - Conditions were fine last Sunday afternoon, as rookie Iditarod musher Lou Packer left a checkpoint halfway through the grueling wilderness race.
What happened next has drawn renewed attention to animal rights advocates' claim that the more than 1,100-mile trek through Alaska is cruel to the dogs who lead competitors' sleds.
One of the few mushers traveling alone at the time, Packer ran smack into a blizzard.
"It's really hard not to start crying," the 55-year-old Wasilla doctor said in an interview Thursday at the urgent care clinic he owns. "I really loved those dogs and I felt like I let them down."
The wind picked up, whipping snow into huge mounds and burying trail markers. Cooking food for his sled dogs was a challenge, but he managed. He also put coats on the animals.
The weather got worse. Snow was waist deep and temperatures plunged to almost 50 below zero. It became almost impossible to move against a wind that Packer described as "a semi tractor-trailer passing you at 80 miles an hour." Still, he kept looking for protection for his team.
Back home, his wife Ellen Varosi monitored his lack of progress through the satellite tracker shown on the Iditarod's Web site. She knew her husband was leading the dogs because the tracker would show his slow speed and then long bouts of inactivity.
"I knew something was critically wrong," Varosi said.
Race officials sent out search parties to look for Packer and two other struggling teams, and a pilot spotted the doctor and his dogs. He was rescued more than a day after he set out - but not before he had lost two of his 15 animals.
One dog, Grasshopper, began to falter. He became lethargic, his eyes rolling back in his head. Packer wrapped the dog in his parka and placed it in the sled.
"He got worse and worse and worse," he said, his eyes shiny with tears. "I just watched him die. It was awful. There was nothing I could do. It was horrible. It was just horrible to watch."
About 20 minutes later, Dizzy started sinking, too, and he died soon after Packer felt ice crystals clinging to the dog's skin beneath the fur.
"I'm just numb," said Packer, who suffered mild frostbite in one eye and spoke as Sky, another dog from his team, sat quietly at his side. He believes his team would have stayed ahead of the worst of the storm had he not spent more than three hours helping a musher who had crashed earlier in the race.
"I can't believe it happened," he said. "Dog deaths are something you hear about and you go, 'Well, that's not ever going to happen to me.' And then I had two."
While Packer tried hard to save his animals, the whole idea of racing sleds through sometimes brutal conditions is offensive to animal rights activists.
Advocates say at least 146 dogs have died in the Iditarod since it began in 1973. Iditarod spokesman Chas St. George said he could not find statistics of the total number of dog deaths, though there have been occasional spikes, such as 1985 when a dozen dogs perished in a blizzard.
Packer's dogs were among five animals that have died in this year's race, with about a dozen teams still on the trail Saturday afternoon. At least one Iditarod dog typically perishes in the race, often from gastric ulcers that develop on the trail. Three dogs died in the 2008 race.
Pulmonary edema was a factor in two deaths this year - neither on Packer's sled. Race officials say the problem likely stemmed from a cardiac abnormality.
In light of the latest deaths, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has escalated its annual letter-writing campaign to persuade Iditarod sponsors to withdraw their support. More than 2,700 people have participated in this year's drive, according to spokeswoman Desiree Acholla.
"Racing dogs to their death is indefensible, yet the death toll rises year after year and the race continues with business as usual," she said.
Major sponsors of the Iditarod include Exxon Mobil Corp. and Wells Fargo. Both companies say they support the race.
"Wells Fargo is proud to support the Iditarod - an event that commemorates the rich heritage and resilient spirit of Alaskans," said David Kennedy, an Alaska spokesman for the bank. "Our sponsorship is a strong example of local community involvement that reinforces our reputation for supporting the success of communities where we do business."
Race organizers note an expansive system of checks and balances has evolved over the years to better monitor the more than 1,000 dogs along the trail. Veterinarians are deployed to checkpoints. Mushers must keep a dog-care journal. There are mandatory rest stops and random drug testing of the dogs. Deaths are carefully scrutinized. And this year, all teams were outfitted with satellite tracking devices, which tipped Packer's wife that he had run into trouble.
"We work every year with our mushers, veterinarians and all the people who are part of this race in terms of one single goal, and that's to create the very, very best continuum of care for the four-legged athletes that we consider to be the greatest in the world," St. George said. "It is our responsibility to continue to strive for no deaths in this race."
At least one animal welfare group - the Humane Society of the United States - no longer actively campaigns against the Iditarod, although officials aren't endorsing it either.
They acknowledge, however, the event's significance in commemorating the work of dog teams that were sent on the trail in 1925 to bring diphtheria serum to Nome to combat a deadly outbreak.
"I would like to see the Iditarod celebrate the history and culture of the event and not be just a timed event, but they're trying to make it as safe as they can for both the animals and humans," said Dave Pauli, the humane society's Western region director. "We're definitely reformists and not abolitionists on an event like this."
Packer says he's not done with the Iditarod, despite his ordeal. He believes the extreme conditions were an aberration and his team of dogs were actually in superb condition.
"It's just such an incredible experience to cross the Alaska Range with a dog team, to cross this huge range of mountains," he said. "You go through some incredibly beautiful country."
___
On the Net:
http://www.iditarod.com
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/iditarod_09
Community Discussion
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send these animal rights groups home and let them get a real job instead of trying to ruin something alot of people and animals love.
Very sorry for your horrible experience Dr. Packer.
I guess the best defense to such harsh weather would be dig a pit in the snow and let the dogs curl up in groups. IF there is no alternative.
For 10 plus years i'v put an average of 1800 miles a year on my small kennel, raced a total of 800 miles in races. Never had a single death because of the running and racing.
Must be some underline problem that's harder to detect, and is hardly preventable in any situation. You hear of 9-13 year old leaders that are barking to go during the race, and retire healthier then the average dog. Plus look at the thousands that never died and made it in these long distant racing. I wouldn't say its normal, and hope through reseach and more intense studies that they can get to the bottom of these deaths.
Happy Trails my fellow mushers.
I guess PETA would prefer that thousands of dogs be euthanized than a few die doing the thing they are bred for and love to do, because that is exactly what would happen to most sled dogs if mushing were to cease. It's a shame that so few people are able to make so much noise. I guess they are free to speak their opinion, but we are just as free to ignore it.
I am no fan of the Iditarod but Packer's loss did not occur because it was a race--he could have been out there on a trip and have had the same thing happen. Unfortunately people and animals get stranded in blizzards in Alaska, get hypothermic and die. And dogs get stomped by moose and others get injured. This is not the fault of the race. As for the pulmonary edema dogs, those that get aspiration pneumonia, and those that get ulcers--what can be done to prevent that--because a lot of that is preventable. Some dogs get ultrasounds and EKGs--a lot of mushers use Pepcid to prevent ulcers. More research and tightening of the standards should be done. As for aspiration penumonia--longer rest times so the dogs are not running on a full stomach. It also gives the mushers time to rest because a sleep deprived musher is not going to be as vigilant to notice something wrong. To the Yukon Quest's credit, they've not had dog deaths in a few years despite tougher conditions.
give it a break........the dogs are incredibly well taken care of. The animal rights groups should "enlighten" themselves and visit foreign countries like China and put the mushing dogs treatment in relative terms.
So what is PETA’s stance on the proposed Alaskan legislation prohibiting bestiality? Is it animal cruelty; or true love between two (or more) animals that transcends narrow-minded views of “species.” We are all related after all.
But then, I think that marital relations between polar bears and humans might get a bit bloody; and I don’t mean in a “blood-wings badge” sort of way.
The only comment I can make is there is nothing you can do sometimes when mother nature is in charge. I'm sure no one wanted or could see this coming. These guys love their dogs and maybe for rookies a class could be given on the possible extremes of this race using this incident as en example.But DO NOT LET THE RACE BE DICTATED TO BY PETA!!!
mel1776 that was the best post i have seen in years
Snowduck, but isn't the life of even one dog more valuable than that of all the biomass in the universe? Oppps, I made a PETA brain fart.
LMAO Mel1776, but you do have a valid point!! We are not hearing ANY word from PETA about this legislation.
Sorry Dr. Packer for your loss. It is tragic, but dog racing is Alaska's state sport, and it commemerates historic events that are an important part of the heritage here. PETA, while you are free to say whatever you wish, GO HOME!!!
Thanks Flemm-
I sense that DNM will soon delete this article as another, "Oh crap, MEL commented here, quick delete it and republish an almost identical article." Do you really think you all are smarter than me?! [Villain’s Laughter]!
Mother Nature has killed more species on this planet then man has enough said.
The real story is not the Iditarod. The real story is the culling that goes on with the dogs that don't make the team to make room for more breeding. Many are simply shot. Check out the FNSB Shelter--over half the dogs are huskies. Some don't even come from the borough--people bring them in from all over and drop them off, often with no information. Those that have info, and Yukon Quest and Iditarod microchips have comments like too slow for my team, need to get my numbers down and getting out of dogs. So now the borough taxpayers get to foot the bill for these folks's hobby, or business. Several of the tourist businesses around town now feature sled dogs and puppies--the tourists never learn the full story. Yes there are responsible mushers--for sure--but whenever big bucks are involved, there are always problems when it comes to animals.
I dont think it is considered cruelty that the dog from doing what he was born and bred to do. Cruelty would be forcing him to run and beating his a** if he didnt and intentionaly letting him freeze or starve that is cruelty. I think you would be hard pressed to find a dog musher that is cruel to his dogs.
I wonder what the death rate is for pampered lazy house dogs that are cooped up all the time versus the four legged atheletes that have competed in the Iditarod. The answer might be enlightening.
aktreefrog...the answer is that the life expectancy for a "house" dog is not as long as an active dog that gets lots of exercise. Very similar to an active human vs. one that is more sedentary.
it's how they perceive the dog lives their life, that is the problem with Animal Rights Activist have with these activities.
As it's easily observed Animal Rights Activist identify with the lazy house dog, they're threatened by the fact that even animals enjoy doing more to contribute to society than they do..
FACT and WORD
I'm not worried about the harsh conditions, because humans and animals alike are subject to them. But I do have serious concern about the large amounts of anti-inflammatory drugs that are used to reduce sled dogs' inflammation from injuries and strain. Basically it masks the symptoms so the dogs can continue pulling, even though they are not healed. It also causes the gastric ulcers that dogs die of every year. I think that is a crime, and should be stopped. The dogs are being treated as means to an end, and that goes against the very spirit of the race. Old-time mushers would not do such things, because they knew they depended on their dogs for survival. They had too much respect, and so do some of the younger mushers out of the old tradition today. I wish the race officials would make some rules against the excessive use of anti-inflammatory drugs, and state exactly what is excessive.
PETA needs to stay the heck out of Alaska.
The Iditarod is one part of our state's heritage that we will not tolerate their meddling with. Do dogs sometimes die while running the race? Yes, mostly due to weather or events beyond the musher's control. This is an outdoors race; i.e. Mother Nature has a huge role in deciding the course of events. PETA needs to wake up and realize that everything possible is done to ensure the health and wellbeing of these athletes. I would wager that the good mushers take better care of their dogs than they do themselves. That's the way it should be because without their dogs the mushers would be stuck.
Besides, we already have an Iditarod for PETA lovers. What is the name of the preliminary race that is humans pulling the sleds? Let's invite PETA to pull the sleds for next year and send them over the Yukon Quest route- the entire route.
aurora drugs as you describe are not allowed in the Iditarod or Yukon Quest. Not even aspirin.
When the "animal rights advocates" make serious efforts to do something about the tens of thousands of dogs that live wretched lives as breeders in puppy mills, suffer horrible mistreatment and death at the hands of animal hoarders, or are so neglected that they live out their existence on the end of a chain with little attention (often with their skin growing over their too-tight collars) and inadequate shelter, THEN I will try to listen to their concerns about sled dog racing (but not the sea kitten idiocy). I guess the former problems just aren't high-profile enough for them to justify any action.
Its sad to lose a dog, and to lose two..:( The musher gave his buddy a coat, how is that abuse? MYOB PETA.
Aurora wrote "Old-time mushers would not do such things, because they knew they depended on their dogs for survival. They had too much respect, and so do some of the younger mushers out of the old tradition today. I wish the race officials would make some rules against the excessive use of anti-inflammatory drugs, and state exactly what is excessive."
Here are some more quotations for you, from primary historical documents:
"“Then ensued that inhuman thrashing and varied cursing, that howling of dogs and systematic brutality of drivers, which make up the romance of winter-travel, and degrade the driver lower than the brutes….Dogs are often stubborn and provoking, and require flogging until brought into subjection; but lashings upon the body while laboring in the trains, systematic floggings upon the head till their ears drop blood, beatings with whip-stocks until nose and jaws are one deep wound, and poundings with clubs and stamping with boots till their howls merge into low wails of agony, are the frequent penalties of a slight deviation from duty. Of the four dogs attached to the provision sledge, three underwent repeated beatings at the hands of the Cree. By mid-afternoon the head of Whiskey was reduced to a bleeding, swollen mass from tremendous thrashings. Chocolat (sic) had but one eye wherewith to watch the dreaded driver, and Brandy had wasted so much strength in wild lurches and sudden springs, in order to dodge the descending whip, that he had none remaining for the legitimate task of hauling the sledge.”(Robinson, HM: The Great Fur Land or Sketches of Life in the Hudson’s Bay Territory; G.P. Putnam’s Sons; New York; 1879. pg23)
“The strange thing is, that men who are full of kindness and humanity towards one another and towards the rest of creation, should be as bad as the greatest ruffians in their treatment of the poor dogs – those most useful slaves who will work day and night, almost without rest, for weeks together."(Carnegie J. Earl of Southesk: Saskatchewan and The Rocky Mountains; A Diary and Narrative of Travel, Sport, and Adventure, During a Journey Through the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Territories, in 1859 and 1860: Charles E. Tuttle Co., Rutland VT: 1969. ppg 339)
If you'd like more, they can be found in the Polar Studies collection at the UAF library. The fact is, humane treatment of animals is a very new concept to humans - the dogs were simply a means to an end to the majority of historical mushers.
We are MUCH more humane to our dogs than any previous generation of mushers.
You are right Swanny, but there is no need to talk about this anymore. It doesn't happen on any race anymore. If it does, and it caught, that musher is in serious dog feces.
thank you swanny.
Well, I haven't read the above-mentioned things about the treatment of dogs back then. I'm sure they're true, but I'm speaking from my own experience with elder Native dog mushers and some younger ones who don't treat their dogs as pets, certainly, but who would not do anything to endanger the life or health of their dogs just to win a race or for any other reason, and while on the trail feed their dogs before they eat themselves. I have witnessed the real partnership between these folks and their dogs. It is this that I speak of. Not saying that Native people weren't cruel to their dogs. I'm sure there were those that were. But the tradition I speak of is real.
I'm curious now about the drugs. If they're not allowed, what causes the multiple deaths from gastric ulcers every year? Those drugs are the only cause I have heard of, and I cannot think of another cause for a dog getting ulcers at all, never mind bad enough to bleed to death. Who knows something about this?
Aurora, the issue with gastric ulcers is receiving a great deal of research. It has to do with mucosal permeability in exercising animals, and is an issue for race horses as well as racing sled dogs. The cause for the ulcers had not yet been determined, but they have found that the drug famotidine holds great promise as a preventative approach.
That research is on going, as is research on the on-going efficacy of vaccines, cardiovascular issues and many other areas of veterinary medicine. One would be hard pressed to find a long-distance racing team of any well-known musher that is not being used as a research population.
Science has learned more about canine physiology, and canine behavior, in the past decade that was known in the previous 4,000 years of human interactions with sled dogs and much of that knowledge has been a result of studies conducted either by dog mushers, or with the assistance of dog mushers. That's not just speculation, it's been stated by Dr. R. Coppinger, Dr. James Serpelle (spelling questionable) and and many other highly placed academics and they are telling it to those who most need to hear the message - pet dog trainers (including the Association of Pet Dog Trainers conference).
Much of knowledge gleaned from behavior studies conducted on sled dogs has been used to develop, support and promote more humane and more effective training methods for pets as well as working dogs and they result in a closer bond between human and canine than we've ever known before. That's good for both the dogs, and for their humans.
To be sure, from time to time we hear accounts of mushers abusing their dogs, but those reports are increasingly rare. In the mushing community, the highest praise one can bestow is "He (or she) takes damned good care of his (or her) dogs.
Today's dog musher takes advantage of the best parts of science and historical tradition to provide the best possible physical and psychological care of his or her dogs.
To learn more about the common sled dog care practices used by today's dog mushers, visit the Mush with P.R.I.D.E. website at http://www.mushwithpride.org.
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