Cruel Iditarod glamorized by USA Network and sponsors

[Guest guest]

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org:

 

USA Network aired a program that glamorized the cruel Iditarod dog sled race

and the relationship between the mushers and their dogs. The truth is that

mushers treat their dogs abominably.

 

Mushers force their dogs to live in concentration camp lots attached to 5

foot chains in their own urine and filth. The dogs are beaten into

submission, unwanted puppies are shot in the head, and dogs are skinned for

fur. In the Iditarod the dogs are forced to race 1,150 miles over a grueling

terrain in 9 to 14 days, which is the approximate distance between Orlando

and New York City.

 

In this year's race, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for by

inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold and

died. Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit. The program did not

mention these deaths. It also did not mention that mushers often sleep on

their sleds while the dogs race, or that many mushers hallucinate during the

race from lack of sleep.

 

Please write to the companies that sponsored the USA Network program. A

sample letter and contact information are below.

 

BOYCOTT: If you decide to boycott, please say so in your letter.

 

SAMPLE LETTER:

 

Dear

 

Your company sponsored the USA Network program which glamorized the cruel

Iditarod dog sled race and the relationship between mushers and their dogs.

The truth is that mushers treat their dogs abominably. Please stop promoting

this abusive race and all of the evils associated with it.

 

In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles over a grueling terrain

in 9 to 14 days, which is the approximate distance between Orlando and New

York. Dog deaths and injuries are common in the race. Jon Saraceno, sports

columnist for USA Today, called the race " Ihurtadog " and " an outrage. " Fox

sportscaster Jim Rome called it " I-killed-a-dog. " The Iditarod is condemned

by animal protection groups across the United States.

 

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website

http://www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures, and for more information. Be

sure to read the quotes on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm. All of

the material on the site is true and verifiable.

 

In almost all of the 29 Iditarod races, at least one dog death has occurred.

The first race is reported to have resulted in the deaths of 15 to 19 dogs.

In 1997, the Anchorage Daily News, which is a strong supporter of the race,

admitted that " at least 107 (dogs) have died. " Since that report, ten more

dogs have died in the Iditarod, bringing the grand total of dogs who have

died in the Iditarod to at least 117. There is no official count of dog

deaths available for the race's early years and this count relies only on a

reported number of deaths.

 

Causes of death have included strangulation in towlines, internal

hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and

pneumonia. " Sudden death " and " external myopathy, " a condition in which a

dog's muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise,

have also occurred. In 1985 a musher kicked his dog to death. The 1976

Iditarod winner, Jerry Riley, was banned for life in 1990 after being accused

of striking his dog with a snow hook (a large, sharp and heavy metal claw).

In 1996 one of Rick Swenson's dogs died while he mushed his team through

waist-deep water and ice.

 

In this year's race, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for by

inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold and

died. Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit.

 

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40

years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

 

" They've had the hell beaten out of them. " " You don't just whisper into their

ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They

understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the

same way elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And

you know what? They are all lying. "

-USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

 

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing

Manual, " I heard one highly respected (sled dog) driver once state that

" ‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.' " " Nagging a dog team is

cruel and ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all

but is effective. " " It is a common training device in use among dog

mushers...A whip is a very humane training tool. "

 

The race has led to the proliferation of concentration camp dog kennels in

which the dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100 dogs and

some have as many as 200.

 

It is standard for the dogs to spend their entire lives outside tethered to

metal chains that can be as short as four feet long. In 1997 the United

States Department of Agriculture determined that the tethering of dogs was

inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The chaining of dogs as a

primary means of enclosure is prohibited in all cases where federal law

applies. A dog who is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate

where he sleeps, which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away

from his living area. Because he is close to his own to his own fecal

material, a dog can easily catch deadly parasitical diseases by stepping in

or sniffing his own waste.

 

Mushers believe in " culling " or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies.

Dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for

any reason, are killed with a shot to the head. Dogs are skinned for their

fur, which is then used on mittens and parkas.

 

Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance of parole. Please end your

company's association with the Iditarod dog sled race.

 

Sincerely,

 

CONTACT INFORMATION:

 

Samir G. Gibara, Chmn

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

1144 E. Market St.

Akron, OH 44316

Phone: 1- 800-321-2136

Fax: 330-796-2222

Email: goodyear.investor.relations

 

Niall W. A. FitzGerald, Chmn

Unilever (Helene Curtis brand, Slim Fast, Lever 2000, Wisk)

PO Box 68, Unilever House, Blackfriars

London EC4P 4BQ, United Kingdom

Phone: +44-20-7822-5252

Fax: +44-20-7822-5951

Email message box: http://www.unilever.com/index_ie.html

 

John F. Smith Jr., Chmn

General Motors

300 Renaissance Center

Detroit, MI 48265

Phone: 313-556-5000

Fax: 313-556-5108

Email: john.devine

 

Seymour Sternberg, Chmn

New York Life Insurance Company

51 Madison Ave.

New York, NY 10010

Phone: 212-576-7000

Fax: 212-576-8145

Email: internet_inetmark

 

Daniel Vasella, Chmn

Novartis (Sentinel, Gerber baby foods, etc.)

Lichtstrasse 35

CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland

Phone: +41-61-324-1111

Fax: +41-61-324-8001

Email message box: http://www.info.novartis.com/investors/index_contacts.html

 

David C. Novak, Chmn

Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. (KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell)

1441 Gardiner Ln.

Louisville, KY 40213

Phone: 502-874-8300

Fax: 502-874-8790

Email message box: http://www.triconglobal.com/contact.htm

 

Yoshihide Munekuni, Chmn

Honda

1919 Torrance Blvd.

Torrance, CA 90501-2746

Phone: 310-783-2000

Fax: 310-783-2110

Email: hsuganuma

 

Robert A. Davies III, Chmn

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (Arm & Hammer)

469 N. Harrison St.

Princeton, NJ 08543-5297

Phone: 609-683-5900

Fax: 609-497-7269

Email: jobs

 

Michael D. Eisner, Chmn

Disney Company

500 S. Buena Vista St.

Burbank, CA 91521-9722

Phone: 818-560-1000

Fax: 818-560-1930

Email message box: http://disney.go.com/mail/investorinfo/index.html

 

Reuben Mark, Chmn

Colgate-Palmolive

300 Park Ave.

New York, NY 10022

Phone: 212-310-2000

Fax: 212-310-3405

Email: http://www.colgate.com/cp/corp.class/investor_relations/contact.jsp

 

Victor K. Kiam II, Chmn

Remington

60 Main St.

Bridgeport, CT 06604

Phone: 203-367-4400

Fax: 203-332-4648

Toll Free: 800-736-4648

Email message box: http://remington-products.com/contact/index.html

 

Sondra A. Healy, Chmn

Turtle Wax, Inc.

5655 W. 73rd St.

Chicago, IL 60638-6211

Phone: 708-563-3600

Fax: 708-563-3559

Email: qa

 

Tim Horne, CEO

W.C. Bradley Enterprises (Char-broil)

PO Box 1240

Columbus, GA 31902-1240

Phone: 800-241-7548

Fax: 706-576-6355

Email: tim.horne

 

Lord Blyth, Chmn

Diageo plc (Baileys, Guinness, J & B, Burger King)

8 Henrietta Place

London W1M 9AG, United Kingdom

Phone: +44-612-207-927-5200

Fax: +44-612-2

Email: info

Email:investor.rel

 

Hermann J. Strenger, Chmn

Bayer (Advantage, Aleve

Werk Leverkusen 51368

Leverkusen, Germany

Phone: +49-214-30-58992

Fax: +49-214-307-1985

Email: juergen.beunink.jb

Email: astrid.lurati.al

Email: peter.dahlhoff.pd

 

Barry Diller, CEO (Aired shows that promoted the Iditarod)

USA Networks, Inc.

152 W. 57th St.

New York, NY 10019

Fax: (212) 314-7309

Phone: (212) 314-7300

Email: shows