More gruesome facts on Iditarod overbreeding and culling

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Thanks to Raina for finding these hideous facts on culling of Iditarod excess puppies and former racers themselves. Read down past the links. Facts | Quotes | Help the dogs | News Reports | Dog CareMushers | Recreational

Mushing | Links | Home A Kid's Thoughts Select quote topic Articles about the Iditarod Dog deaths Poor veterinary care Mushers mistreat their dogs during race Dog injuries, sicknesses and extreme stress Problems with Iditarod rules Greed fuels the Iditarod Cruel dog training Iditarod history Abuse in Iditarod kennelsWhat the Alaska SPCA saysPermanent chaining of dogs is cruel, dangerous and makes dogs aggressiveKilling or culling unwanted dogsSome culled Iditarod dogs are skinned for furMushers charged with

animal cruelty and reckless neglectChained dogs get little attention and exerciseDogs become "kennel crazy"Adequate dog care is too costlyMushers can't bond with all their dogsMany dogs have no namesDogs in

remote areas don't get veterinary careSick and injured dogs often get no veterinary careDogs don't get fresh water every dayHorrific conditions in Iditarod champion's kennelFew

sled dogs are adoptedWhat the Alaska SPCA says Alaska SPCA has criticized the Iditarod and has condemned how mushers treat their dogs:"The race should not be a race! The original serum run was done in relays. It is what happens "BEHIND THE SCENES" during the rest of the year that needs to be told.... The breeding, culling [killing] and poor treatment needs to be exposed."- Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, March 4, 2002- Ethel D. Christensen, is the founder of the Alaska SPCA. She recently retired as its Executive DirectorAlaska SPCA director says Iditarod magnifies cruelties:Margery Glickman: "The dogs who can't meet the standard are killed." Rob Moore:

"They're just killed or possibly abandoned."Margery Glickman: "From what I understand, normally the dogs are simply killed with a shot to the head or they're bludgeoned or even drowned. I've heard that the puppies, especially, are easy to drown. The mushers will tie a rope to their neck and a rock and throw them in the river. But they bred large numbers of dogs just to get a handful of good one. There was a TV documentary where a famous Iditarod musher said that she bred 300 dogs to get five good racers, and this is typical." Rob Moore: "300 to get five racers." Margery Glickman: "Yes." Rob Moore: "Ethel, you work with the SPCA and I want you to comment on this and this incredible surplus of dogs and what happens to these dogs and the kinds of calls that you get." Ethel Christensen: "Well, first of

all Rob, let me say that I found the Alaska SPCA in 1966. At that time, I was an aviation pilot weather forecaster briefer, international airport, and I traveled around Alaska a lot. And what Margery is saying is correct. And, unfortunately it's been magnified. The Iditarod has done nothing but magnify that and we get all sort of calls." - Ethel Christensen is the founder of the Alaska SPCA. She recently retired as its Executive Director.- Rob Moore hosts Animal Voices, a radio show in Toronto, Canada. - Margery Glickman is the director of the Sled Dog Action Coalition- This interview was done on February 28, 2006 Permanent chaining of dogs is cruel, dangerous and makes dogs aggressive

Keeping dogs continuously chained is massive psychological cruelty:[iditarod dogs are tethered on chains as short as four feet. Each dog is kept in one spot and cannot interact normally with other dogs. Many kennels have more than 100 dogs and some have more than 200 dogs. In his introduction to the book Father of the Iditarod, Joe Redington, co-founder of the race, admitted that by 1990 he had 527 dogs living in his kennel.]"Dogs are naturally social beings who thrive on interaction with human beings and other animals. A dog kept chained in one spot for hours, days, months or even years suffers immense psychological damage. An otherwise friendly

and docile dog, when kept continuously changed, becomes neurotic, unhappy, anxious and often aggressive."- King 5 Television, Seattle, December, 2002, website"Canada's best-known expert on dog behaviour says keeping a dog on a short chain its whole life and depriving it of social interaction is as cruel as depriving a two-year-old child of the same basic necessities.Dr. Stanley Coren, a University of B.C. psychology professor, was commenting on a case in Victoria, where the SPCA seized an 11-month-old rottweiler from a house at 510 Raynor Ave. after it was alleged that the dog spent her entire life on the end of a 2.5-metre chain. [From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: A 2.5 metre chain is 8.202 feet. Iditarod dogs are kept on chains 4 to 5 feet long.]It was the first time in the B.C. SPCA's history

that the society seized an animal on grounds of psychological, rather than physical, abuse.""I think the easiest way to think about what's going on is to remember that a dog has the mind of a two-year-old human child," Coren said. "If someone took a two-year-old child and tied him to his bed area, forced him to eat near his feces, allowed him to get cold and in the way of drafts, and didn't give him any social support, I think we would agree that everyone in the world would claim that this was massive cruelty.That's the mind you're dealing with when you're dealing with a dog. The same kind of things that will damage that two-year-old's mind will damage a dog's mind."- Nicholas Read, Vancouver Sun, February 28, 2002"Kim Schoolcraft, director of the Galveston County Animal Control division of the health district, said a dog’s nature

was to be part of a pack or family. 'When a dog is isolated every day, for extended periods, it’s going to take a psychic toll, just like it would on a human being,” Schoolcraft said.'" - Scott Williams, The Galveston County Daily News, October 13, 2006"Chaining them drives them insane, basically, and they don't know how to behave."- Ellie Choate, Doña Ana County animal control supervisor - Renée Ruelas-Venegas and Jason Gibbs, Las Cruces Sun-News, December 16, 2006Iditarod kennels are canine concentration camps or madhouses for dogs: "These social animals, bred to run, spend nearly all of their time confined to a 5-foot chain to keep them near their small doghouse, food bowl, water dish and, most unnatural for a dog, their own excretions. Some veterinarians contend, quite reasonably, that chaining a dog leads to aggression and stress

and, in fact, it appears that sled dogs suffer from a high rate of stomach ulcers brought on, some believe, by their living conditions. To some, 120 small identical doghouses, each with a restless howling dog chained next to it, may look like a "summer camp," but it's not hard to picture it as a canine concentration camp or a madhouse for dogs." - John M. Crisp, Scripps Howard News Service, August 20, 2007Tethered dogs are often unsocialized:"[Terry] Erhart, 27, walks up to a black sled dog cowering against the fence. The dog's stance is not unusual. Nearly all Iditarod dogs are raised and trained in bush Alaska. They grow up knowing few people and open landscape."- Terry Erhart was an inmate Hiland Mountain Correctional Center who took care of

dogs dropped from the Iditarod.- Andrew Perala, Anchorage Daily News, March 21, 1987"A number of their dogs were terrified of humans, even in their later years. You had to grab their chain and pull them in to you, harness them and then walk them to the team and snap them in. They walked as far away from you as they could, with their tails tucked, and clung to the ground when you hooked them into harness. They just wanted you to get away from them. A lot of sled dogs are like this, sadly." - Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs - Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007Dogs damage teeth chewing on chains: "I've seen dogs at numerous kennels that have teeth damage from chewing on their chains."- Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs- Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007The necks of chained dogs become raw and infected:"In many cases, the necks of chained dogs become raw and covered with sores, the result of improperly fitted collars, and the dog's constant yanking and straining to escape confinement."Sebastian County Humane Society, Fort Smith, AR, December, 2002, websiteTethering makes dogs easy targets for attacks by other animals, etc:"A chained animal may suffer...stinging bites from insects, and, in the worst cases attacks by other animals."- King 5 Television, Seattle, December, 2002, website"It jeopardizes the dog's welfare by exposure to attacks, accidents, direct and indirect poisoning, sick animals, etc."- Dennis Fetko, Ph.D. December, 2002, Dr. Dog website- Dr. Fetko is and expert in animal training and behaviorDogs on chains are easy marks for wolves, foxes, bears and coyotes:"A pack of wolves killed about a half-dozen sled dogs from three teams in Marshall on Wednesday night before residents of the Yukon River village chased them out of town, according to village officials and Alaska State Troopers.Dogs tied up on an 18-inch chain are simply too good to pass up, he [Alaska State Trooper Sgt. Matt Dobson] said.'These wolves have more than enough to

eat,' he [Dobson] said. 'It's just an easy treat for them." - James Halpin, Anchorage Daily News, October 26, 2007Follow-up: One the wolves tested positive for rabies:"A wolf killed [by humans] during an attack on sled dogs in the Yukon River village of Marshall last week has tested positive for rabies, and state officials Wednesday night said unvaccinated dogs in the village should be euthanized. The wolf was part of a pack that killed a half-dozen dogs the night of Oct. 24 before villagers chased them out, killing the one wolf and wounding others. Tests returned late Wednesday showed that animal had rabies, and the state's wildlife veterinarian said it's possible other wolves in the pack also have the disease. Dogs could have been infected as well." - Don Hunter, Anchorage Daily News, November 1, 2007"A Kenai Peninsula

man shot and killed a brown bear with a shotgun slug while the young boar threatened a chained dog, according to an Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist."- Anchorage Daily News, May 15, 2007"'A dog on a chain is an easy mark,' [Howard] Golden said. He said the size of the dogs attacked suggests wolves, not coyotes, are responsible. Coyotes weigh 40 to 50 pounds. An adult wolf typically weighs 85 to 115 pounds." - Howard Golden is an Alaska state Fish and Game biologist- Ben Spiess, Anchorage Daily News, April 6, 2003"But when he looked out, he saw an arctic fox pulling dog-food pans to the side of the yard and licking them out. [Randy] Romenesko said he shooed the fox away with a shovel, but it came back. It tried stealing a pan from one of his chained sled dogs, which lunged at the fox and missed.""'I kind of threw the

shovel at him. But he didn't run off, he ran toward me.''Then I realized I was no longer armed,' he said. He ran in the house, grabbed his .22-caliber rifle, waited for a clean shot and dispatched the fox.It had behaved so oddly that he contacted local authorities, who shipped the fox's head to the state virology lab in Fairbanks. The results: positive for rabies". - Steve Rinehart, Anchorage Daily News, March 20, 1997Dogs easily made sick from eating animal feces and bird droppings: "Dogs are scavengers by nature, taking treats where they can find them. It's impossible to explain to a dog that eating a particular item could cause injury or death. As a result, it has become a human responsibility to protect dogs from foraging instincts that might have been useful in the wild but can be deadly to companion dogs.Risky Business:Several things your dog can find outdoors are

harmful if swallowed. You can see some of the hazards, but others you cannot:- Animal feces and bird droppings. Animal feces can transmit parasites, bacterial infection, or virus to the dog." - VeterinaryPartner.com, January, 2005Flies who bite are attracted by odor of waste on the ground:"When you see a dog house with a circle of dirt around it, you know you are looking at the 'home' of a chained dog. The area where the dogs can move about becomes hard-packed dirt that carries the stench of animal waste even if the owner picks up fecal material.The odor of waste draws flies, which bite the dog's ears often causing serious bloodly wounds."- Jean V. Johnson, WHS/SPCA News, 1991 Dogs on chains are vulnerable to lightning strikes:"Dog

houses are not safe, and dogs which are chained to metal chains or wire runners are particularly vulnerable to a nearby lightning strike."- National Weather Service, Public Information Statement, May, 2002-- Lightning storms occur during winter and summer months:"Usually they [thunderstorms and lightning] are observed along the Outer Coast as strong cold fronts move in from the Gulf of Alaska. Interestingly, these storms can occur during the winter months as well as during summer.""Very active thunderstorm days may feature 2,000 to 5,000 lightning strikes, mainly occurring during the late afternoon hours in late June and early July." - National Weather Service, Juneau, Lightning Page, website article, April, 2003Dogs on

chains are vulnerable to attacks by rabid animals: "But when he looked out, he saw an arctic fox pulling dog-food pans to the side of the yard and licking them out. [Randy] Romenesko said he shooed the fox away with a shovel, but it came back. It tried stealing a pan from one of his chained sled dogs, which lunged at the fox and missed.""'I kind of threw the shovel at him. But he didn't run off, he ran toward me.''Then I realized I was no longer armed,' he said. He ran in the house, grabbed his .22-caliber rifle, waited for a clean shot and dispatched the fox. It had behaved so oddly that he contacted local authorities, who shipped the fox's head to the state virology lab in Fairbanks. The results: positive for rabies".- Steve Rinehart, Anchorage Daily News,

March 20, 1997 Dogs on chains are vulnerable to attacks by humans:"Alaska State Troopers and school officials are investigating the slaying of a Teller teacher's dog by some of her students, officials said Tuesday. Five kids -- three girls and two boys -- between the ages of 13 and 15 have been linked to the stabbing death of the sled dog Willow, a member of the teacher's mushing team. Trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson said two of the girls were present when the dog was killed but didn't participate in the stabbing. The third girl held the dog's head and comforted it while the two boys stabbed it with knives, troopers said."- Tataboline Brant, Anchorage Daily News, November 10, 2004"Alaska State Troopers found the 18 sled dogs that were reportedly shot to death in the village of Manley three weeks ago.The dogs disappeared on April 8. The

dogs were gone when their owner, recreational musher Chuck Parker, returned home from work that day. There was evidence the dogs had been shot and removed from a dog lot in the small town at the end of the Elliott Highway."- Staff Report, Fairbanks News-Miner, April 28, 2005Tethers can strangle dogs:"Chains/ropes can get tangled and result in the dogs's being strangled or dangerously restricted."Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society, New York, December, 2002, websiteChained dogs can get frostbite in less than an hour:"According to the American Animal Hospital Association, animals are vulnerable to frostbite and hypothermia in less than an hour." - Bill Curtis, Bakersfield News, January 14, 2008[information about

frostbite and hypothermia hazzards] Frozen water, maggot infested food, defecation packed down as dirt or mud:"Fiske painted a picture of misery: frozen or overturned water bowls, maggot infested food, defecation in a confined area that gets packed down as dirt or mud, neck sores from yanking on collars, or even collars embedded in the dog’s neck because of owner negligence."- Robert Fiske is the director of Maine Friends of Animals- Lucy L. Martin, The Lincoln County News, May 4, 2005Continuous confinement by a tether is inhumane: "Our experience in enforcing the Animal Welfare Act has led us to conclude that continuous confinement of dogs by a tether is inhumane."- The United States Department of

Agriculture, 1996"What we've done we've done for the citizens of this town because of safety first, and it's a humane thing to do for the animals."- Councilman Woody Jumper of Big Spring, Texas talking about the city council voting to ban tethering- Thomas Jenkins, Big Spring Herald, July 28, 2004 "If you need to secure your dog, get a big fence. If you need a security system, install an electronic one. If you want a dog but aren't willing to love it and consider its needs, get a stuffed one. Chaining a dog all the time is no way to treat a thinking, breathing, trusting, loving creature."- Marty Becker, DVM, Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service,

January 21, 2003"Dogs offer people undying loyalty and unconditional love. In return, they ask for nothing more than a sense of belonging.To banish a dog permanently to the backyard, while the rest of his 'family' enjoy one another inside, is a betrayal of this loving pact -- that is not way to treat man's best friend"- Nathan J. Winograd, The Ithaca Journal, November 21, 2003- Winograd is the executive director of the Tompkins County SPCAChaining makes dogs aggressive:"Confine your dog in a fenced yard or dog run when it is not in the house. Never tether or chain your dog because this can contribute to aggressive behavior."- American Veterinary Medical Association, website article, May 15, 2003

"He [Eric Blow] said more effective are laws like the one in Louisville that bar dogs from being chained for more than one hour a day because chaining a dog has been shown to create aggressive behavior"- Eric Blow, director of Metro Animal Services in Louisville, KY- Andrew Wolfson, The Courier Journal, May 13, 2004"'These are the dogs that bite,' said Robert Goldman, president of the Southern California Veterinary Medical Assn. 'When someone ties a dog to a chain in their yard, you've got a dog that is a time bomb.'"- Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, August 19,2004"'You wouldn't tie your children outside,' he [Roger Mugford] said. 'Keep them indoors with you. And if you can't do that, don't keep a dog.' 'Dogs, just like human beings who get locked up for no reason, will get mean and bitter,' he said." - Roger Muford is an international dog expert - Glenn Bohn, Vancouver Sun, April 28, 2003"It triggers a built-in thigmotaxic (opposition reflex) response to lunge toward stimuli. It introduces the pain or discomfort of the restraint into any interaction. Both are common motives for aggression on their own; added to perceived threats and thigmotaxis, they are explosive.It exacerbates defensive aggression by preventing escape but offering no protection from actual or perceived threats. It reinforces aggression because passersbys "flee" when the dog lunges at them, thereby rewarding the lunge."- Dennis Fetko, Ph.D. December, 2002, Dr. Dog website- Dr. Fetko is and expert in animal training and behavior"In addition to frustration, the constant physical restraint promotes excessive territoriality, which may be manifested as aggression. These attacks are completely unnecessary as they are easily preventable by using a secure fence for containment." - Elizabeth Shull, DVM, president of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists- Marty Becker, DVM, Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, January 21, 2003"Close to home, a child would wander away from playmates and enter a neighbor's dog lot. The huskies there were sometimes hungry and ill-tempered. No one played with them, no one petted them. Some of the males were aggressive. So, when the child tried to cross the lot, a dog might lunge, taking down his victim as quickly as a predator on easy prey." '''Virtually none of the

serious attacks in (Bush) Alaska come from roving bands of dogs,' DeGross said. 'They're always attacked when they wander into the area where dogs are chained up.'''- Denny Gross is the former executive director of the Alaska Native Health Board- Doug O'Harra, Anchorage Daily News, November 3, 1996"On Oct. 23, 1994, when 2-year-old Tracy Ann Ishnook was playing outside her house in Koliganek. Her parents were installing insulation in the house and believed their daughter was outdoors with other children. But Tracy had wandered into a relative's dog lot. When her father, Wassillie Ishnook Sr., found her, a sled dog had torn her nose nearly off and was attacking her legs. ''Her face was all bloody, her leg was torn -- and when I saw her leg, I thought we'd lost her,'' Ishnook said.Outside of the village, the horror of the Koliganek

attack struck people with as much impact as a death. Yet it was hardly an isolated case. A boy had died only a few months earlier in the Yukon River village of Pitkas Point in a mauling by a loose sled dog. A girl in the Brooks Range village of Ambler had been scalped by a dog that was secured."- Doug O'Harra, Anchorage Daily News, November 3, 1996"A 2-year-old girl in a southwest Alaska village lost her leg and was badly bitten in the face last weekend after wandering into a sled dog lot. A week earlier in a village near Kotzebue, a dog tore the scalp off a 4-year-old girl. The two maulings are the latest examples of what public health officials describe as a serious, long-standing threat to children throughout rural Alaska dogs."- Tom Bell, Anchorage Daily News, November 4, 1994"A village toddler who set out for a short walk to his

grandmother's house was found an hour later near his uncle's dog lot mauled to death by a sled dog."- Natalie Phillips, Anchorage Daily News, June 10, 1997"A 3yearold Talkeetna boy died Saturday afternoon after being attacked by a HuskyMalemute sled dog that had broken its tether.The youngster, Jerry Lee Cornell, was declared dead at Valley Hospital in Palmer. The dog, belonging to musher John Barton, was taken by animal control officers."- Larry Campbell, Anchorage Daily News, May 7, 1990"Chained in a prison runway, surrounded by barbed wire and unclimbable fence, these canine convicts have been known to be pretty tough dudes and dudettes, capable of killing each other over scraps of meat and bits of territory."- Andrew Perala, Anchorage Daily News, March 21, 1987 - Mr. Perala was talking about dogs dropped from

the Iditarod who were sent to Hiland Hiland Mountain Correctional Center."Extended tethering to dog houses, trees and poles increases the likelihood of the dog developing aggressive tendencies." - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, May 19, 2005Children have a greater chance of dying from dog attacks: "Statistics show that the younger the person who's attacked, the greater the chance they'll die. For example, of the 36 dog-bite deaths in Alaska since 1940, all were children under 10, according to the state epidemiology office." "The deaths of these children make Alaska's rate of dog-attack fatalities 26 times the national average, says a 1979-to-1994 study by the Centers for Disease Control in

Atlanta.""The biggest threat is in the villages where there can be as many as 400 to 500 sled dogs, said Ron Perkins, who oversees injury prevention programs for Indian Health Services."- Linda Weiford, Anchorage Daily News, April 14, 1998Chaining forces dogs to go against their natural instincts:Dr. Paula Kislak:"The other thing besides social interaction, and dogs definitely are pack animals and they do well and would normally chose to live in a social grouping, is that they're also very clean animals, which is why we're able as humans to house-break them, because we take advantage of their natural fastidious tendencies to not want to soil the area that they live in their "cave." So when they're tethered on four foot tethers and that's the extent of the distance they can go, the area becomes completely soiled with fecal contamination and urine, stench, and ammonia. And

it's just a mess. And the dogs are forced to live in this, which is also completely contrary to their nature. And that's the type of thing that the newspapers don't see or report as well. And that's day to day to day, year after year after year. It's just bad."- Dr. Paula Kislak, DVM, is president of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights- She made these remarks in an interview with Janice Blue, the host of Go Vegan Texas (KPFT), on February 27, 2006 "When the dogs are first put on a chain, they tend to throw a temper-tantrum."- Freedman, Lew and Jonrowe, DeeDee. Iditarod Dreams, Seattle: Epicenter Press, 1995Chaining creates abnormal conditions by keeping dogs in solitary confinement: "Virtually every dog who spends most of the day on the end of a chain will show temperament problems- no surprise to those who understand canine behavior. Chaining by definition, keeps a dog in solitary confinement, continually thwarting its pact instinct to be with other animals or with its human 'pack'." -Jean V. Johnson, WHS/SPCA News, 1991 "Dogs are very social creatures. They need to interact. The permanent tethering of dogs

denies them any possibility for normal social behaviors. In fact, this situation denies them any possibility of normal exercising, as well." - Suzanne Cliver, D.V.M., Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, July, 1998Killing or culling unwanted dogsKilling unwanted dogs doesn't bother mushers:Ethel Christensen: "Our philosophy and goal at the Alaska SPCA is prevention, not destruction. And, what they're doing is breeding and breeding and then they cull and cull and cull. And culling

to the musher doesn't bother them one bit. And they use to take them into animal control here and then also up in the valley, but they got such criticism so now they're doing their own killing. And it's not humane. Believe me it's not humane."- Ethel Christensen is the Executive Director of the Alaska SPCA- She made these remarks on Animal Voices, a radio show in Toronto, Canada. - She was interviewed by Rob Moore on February 28, 2006"Letter to the editor: Dog abuse even worse than column describesMargery Glickman has stated the truth about this inhumane race, and all her facts are accurate. What she did not cover is the after-race dog deaths that no one seems to think are important. There are no statistics to support this occurrences as no records are maintained. But it is true there are many after

race deaths either from sickness or from a bullet in the head by the owner to end the suffering of an injured or sick dog. Dogs have no value if they cannot run. Also not mentioned is the pre-race culling. When you have 50 to 100 dogs to care for you have one massive problem, especially when you bring to life two to four more litters each year. What to do with all the dogs that don't make the team? Some are given away, but there are few takers. The pounds in Alaska are full of unwanted dogs, so most of them will be shot and at the ripe old age of a year or two. Sad, isn't it? This is animal exploitation at it worst. Take the money out of the race, and it would end. This is something I urge all supporters to do. Don't help to finance this inhumane race."- Thomas J. Classen, Fairbanks, Alaska - The Vero Beach Press Journal, March 5, 2007- Tom Classen is a retired Air Force colonel who has lived in Alaska over 20 years.- He wrote

this letter in response to an article the paper published about the Iditarod.Musher drowns unwanted puppies:"...The [iditarod] board was silent when Iditarod musher John Cooper wrote a story for this newspaper's magazine talking about getting rid of unwanted puppies by tying them in a bag and tossing the bag in a creek."- Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, April 20, 1992Musher kills puppies with an ax, shoots ones left alive:"Iditarod musher Frank Winkler was charged Friday with animal cruelty for bludgeoning 14 sled-dog puppies with an ax handle, although he said in an interview earlier this month that he reluctantly shot them. After a neighbor

reported hearing puppies whimpering in the night, an animal-control officer visited Winkler's trailer Sept. 7 and found the battered puppies piled in a crate in the back of his pickup. Two were barely alive and the rest were dead. One of the live pups 'was crying and was cold, clammy, wet, bloody and showed clinical signs of shock,' Assistant District Attorney Mindy McQueen wrote in a charging document. The other was half-buried in the pile of dead pups. Both live dogs had crushed skulls and were later killed by animal-control officers."- Marilee Enge, Anchorage Daily News, September 21, 1991"The small pups were only a week old, [Frank] Winkler said. The older pups ranged from5 to 10 weeks old, he said." - Don Hunter, Anchorage Daily News, December 7, 1991"Winkler tries to kill some of his puppies by hitting them with the blunt end of an ax. He doesn't hit all of them hard enough to immediately kill them. He tries to shoot some others with a borrowed .22-caliber rifle, but trying to hold down a puppy while cradling a rifle is no easy task. Winkler has to be careful to avoid shooting himself. He is lucky in that he succeeds. He is unlucky in that the shots only wounded some of the puppies. Two live. Winkler, unaware of this, throws them into a box in back of his truck with the corpses of their brothers and sisters. He goes home. The dying puppies whimper while Winkler sleeps. A neighbor hears the whimpering."- Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, April 20, 1992Dan MacEachen, former Iditarod musher, shoots unwanted dogs:"MacEachen has run Alaska's Iditarod - at

1,150 miles, the world's premier dog-sled race - seven times." - Gwen Florio, Rocky Mountain News, April 6, 2005"Unwanted dogs at one of the largest tourist sled-dog operations in the country are shot in the back of the head and buried in a pit filled with excrement....""Dan MacEachen, owner of the Krabloonik sled-dog center in Snowmass Village for 31 years, said several dogs have been shot with a .22-caliber rifle and buried in a pit where feces from about 250 dogs are deposited. The exact number of animals that have been shot is in dispute, but a former employee said it has been as many as 30 in one year."- Thomas Watkins, Denver Post, April 6, 2005"Dan MacEachen, who acknowledged that he shot and killed old or injured Alaskan huskies - and

some younger dogs that didn't take to pulling sleds - with a .22-caliber rifle, faced heavy criticism after his method of destroying the animals came to light this week."- Steve Lipsher, Denver Post, April 7, 2005 Mushers unable to find homes for unwanted dogs: "Who out there is dumb enough to believe that some musher living in the middle of nowhere is ‘able to find good homes for the dogs?" - Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 5, 1993 Mushers killing puppies: "Killing unwanted sled-dog puppies is part of doing business, many Alaska mushers say." - Anchorage Daily News, October 6, 1991 Culling or killing 3 month old puppies: "[Musher] Plettner said she checks her dogs at 5 weeks old for size, appetite and aggressiveness. Then she tries to work with ones that need improvement, testing the pups weekly until they are about 12 weeks old. After she rates the dogs on feet, coat, digestive system, angulation of legs, drive and smarts, she culls." - Anchorage Daily News, October 6, 1991 Mushers getting rid of dogs who run a mile an hour too slow: "They [the big racing outfits] can't keep a dog who's a mile an hour too slow." - Musher Lorraine Temple, Currents Magazine, Fall 1999 Unwanted dogs clubbed or dragged to death:"On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull dragged to death in harness. (Imagine being dragged by your neck-line at 15

miles per hour while suffering a major heart-attack!) ...."- Mike Cranford, Two Rivers, Alaska- The Bush Blade Newspaper, serving Cook Inlet and Bush Alaska, March, 2000, website articleFamous musher bred 300 dogs to get 5 good ones:"On a recent TV documentary and typical of many [mushers], a famous Iditarod musher stated that she bred 300 dogs to get 5 good ones!""...Help stop the culling and killing."- Ethel D. Christensen Alaska SPCA Executive Director- The Alaska S.P.C.A. website April, 2001Unwanted dogs are killed:"'I'm definitely going to have to cull some dogs. There's no way we can keep them,' he [Charlie Campbell] said.""The culling won't start until the mushing season begins and he and his wife

can assess each dog. 'We're going to have to be ruthless about who we keep.'"- Joel Gay, Anchorage Daily News, September 30, 2002Competitive dog mushing is built on dead dogs:"Competitive dog mushing is built on dead dogs, from the time slow-looking puppies are culled to the moment some overbred, undersized racing hound expires of overexertion."- Mike Doogan, Anchorage Daily News, April, 1994"'Competitive kennels, or even kennels that may not be competitive but aspire to be, often breed more dogs than they're actually going to be able to keep, afford to keep and pay for the vet bills, the food and all the other associated costs,' [Frank] Turner told CBC News in a recent pre-race interview. 'If you added up the numbers, there's no way all those other puppies or young dogs are going to be sold or given away to homes. We're just breeding too

many dogs.' The Yukon Quest should admit that culling is part of the competitive racing world and take measures to discourage it, he said." - Frank Turner is a musher- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Feb. 9, 2007"When I was active in the mushing community, other mushers were open with me about the fact that larger Iditarod kennels frequently disposed of dogs by shooting them, drowning them or setting them loose to fend for themselves in the wilderness. This was especially true in Alaska, they said, where veterinarians were often hours away. They often used the phrase 'Bullets are cheaper.' And they noted that it's more practical for mushers in remote parts of Alaska to do it themselves." - Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs - Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007Death by gunshot

is often a painful way for dogs to die:"The Iditarod is an 'extreme sport,' and like in other extreme sports, its athletes (the dogs) are frequently injured, sometimes permanently, or die. Unlike in other extreme sports, most of the participants didn't choose to compete, they were forced into service, and they have nothing to say about it because they are dogs. For those dogs who do survive the Iditarod, for the many on the fringe of the competitive circle who aren't good enough to compete or aren't worth breeding, they will be shot when they have outlived their usefulness. They aren't even deserving of the kind of compassionate death we guarantee most convicted murderers - painless lethal injection. Those who do live, for a while, spend most of their hours tied by a short chain to a stake."- Jim Willis, Director, The Tiergarten Sanctuary

Trust- Mr. Willis is the author of the acclaimed book Pieces of My Heart - Writings Inspired by Animals and Nature, http://www.crean.com/jimwillis AVMA does not recommend routine euthanasia by gunshot:"Gunshot should not be used for routine euthanasia of animals...."- 2000 Report of the American Veterinary Medical Association Panel on EuthanasiaAgents and Methods of Euthanasia: Species Acceptable Conditionally acceptable Dog Barbiturates, inhalant anesthetics, CO, potassium chloride in conjunction with general anesthesia N2, Ar, penetrating captive bolt, electrocution - From 2000 Report of the AVMA Panel on Euthanasia- Dr. James B. Nichols, University of Vermont, Office of Animal Care Management website Some culled Iditarod dogs are skinned for furDogs skinned for parka ruffs and mittens "....As a dog handler myself, I rescued two old Iditarod stars before their owner ended their fame with a shot to the brain. Culling unwanted dogs is an on-going mushers' practice and one racer had numerous pits full of dead dogs from puppies to oldsters--- some skinned for parka ruffs and mittens!"- Mike Cranford, Two Rivers, Alaska- The Bush Blade Newspaper, serving Cook Inlet and

Bush Alaska, March, 2000, website articleDogs skinned to make hats and mittens:"One set of Iditarod mushers I worked for named one of their dogs "Bullet." They told me that he was named that because they figured he'd "get a bullet" sooner rather than later due to his lack of performance in harness. We ran him for the first couple of months of my employment, trying to better his poor performance in harness. The mushers decided that there was no fixing Bullet; he was not earning his keep so far as food and kennel space were concerned. They simply didn't want to spend money on a dog who didn't have a promising career. One musher constantly talked about shooting Bullet. The dog wasn't very affectionate toward people - but would you be, if you had lived your life on a chain, only to be thrown into harness every once in a while? One day, they finally decided to end his life. Due to my constant pleading, it was to be done in

the most humane way possible - they were going to euthanize Bullet at a veterinary clinic rather than shoot him. They took him to a veterinarian who was a friend of the family, one who had never seen the dog before. He agreed to euthanize this perfectly healthy dog without question. Then we took his body home. I was instructed to put Bullet's body in a large freezer where we stored beef and chicken to be used for dog food. The mushers informed me that they intended to turn Bullet into a pair of mittens or a hat. He was euthanized at a young age and his "pelt" was in prime condition. They then showed me a pair of mittens that they had made from one of their first Siberian Huskies." - Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs - Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, January 13,

2008"He (Colonel Tom Classen) confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their optimum racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens."- Tom Classen is a retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40 years- Jon Saraceno, USA Today, March 3, 2000Actress Sylvia Miles wore pelt from dead Iditarod dog:"Spruced up like an Ewok princess, thespian beauty Sylvia Miles bundled up in luxurious skins for a NYC premiere on Monday. Clad in Davy Crockett headgear, a cotton candy mane, the pelt from an Alaskan Iditarod sled dog.... " - TMZ.com, December 12, 2007 - TMZ.com is a joint venture between Telepictures Productions and AOLChained dogs get little attention and exerciseMost dogs stay on their chains:"Each dog was not exercised every day. Older dogs never got off their chains. Dogs who made the main team were run a few times a week. Puppies were run once or twice a week.

Dogs that didn't make the main team were rarely put into harness. Most dogs just sat on their chains and that is what their life consisted of."- Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs - Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007Dogs don't get daily attention:"The dogs didn't get daily attention. Unless the dogs were being run, they didn't get handled. Handlers scooped poop around them and fed them by throwing their food in a rusty, disgusting food dish or on the ground. The mushers themselves had little interaction with their dogs except for riding on the training ATV or the sled behind them. Their handlers did everything else." - Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs

- Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007Dogs become "kennel crazy""Most dogs don't get off the chain. These dogs go 'kennel crazy.' Some obsessively licked their paws and legs raw. Many run their circle perimeter over and over and over and wear a deep path in the ground from doing it so much. Others obsessively dig holes. It's very, very sad to watch." - Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs - Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007 Mushers charged with animal cruelty and reckless neglect John T. Hessert abandoned 33 sled dogs:"Yellowstone

man has been charged with animal cruelty for allegedly abandoning 33 sled dogs earlier this month near Targhee Pass, west of West Yellowstone. John T. Hessert was charged with one count of felony aggravated animal cruelty and 33 counts of animal cruelty.Hessert finished the 2005 Iditarod." - Associated Press, February 16, 2008David Straub was not feeding his dogs:"Animal control officers removed 28 dogs from the property of a Willow musher Saturday and cited him with 17 counts of animal cruelty after authorities said they found the huskies with rib, hip and tail bones protruding through their thick fur.David Straub, a three-time Iditarod racer, was not feeding his dogs, said a Mat-Su Borough animal control officer. Ten of the dogs were found to be emaciated, animal control officials

said."- Megan Holland, Anchorage Daily News, Oct. 20, 2004 Straub's dogs running in circles, foaming at the mouth, and one died:"The complainant, Daniel Blythe, stated in writing that when he saw the dogs Oct. 10 they were starving, dazed, running in tight circles and foaming at the mouth. Straub, who moved to Alaska from Missouri in 1996 to pursue dog-sledding, admitted one of his dogs died that day. He said it wasn't from starvation, but from the flu."- John Davidson, Frontiersman, Oct. 22, 2004David Straub found guilty of animal cruelty:"A Palmer magistrate on Wednesday found Willow musher David Straub guilty of animal cruelty for failing to provide his dog team with

enough food, water or veterinary care last fall."- Zaz Hollander, Anchorage Daily News, April 7, 2005Charlotte Fitzhugh charged with reckless neglect:"Bush musher Clay Farnham had heard all the horror stories about his neighbor's dog yard before he went over to investigate two years ago. Word was that more than 100 animals were going days without food and water at Charlotte Fitzhugh's place in Chistochina. A misguided sled dog breeder with a history of dog neglect, her animals were reportedly left to fend for themselves at temperatures beyond 50 below while she worked as a taxi driver in Fairbanks, more than 250 miles away. Even with the warning, Farnham was unprepared for what he saw. "All the dogs were skinny and wild-eyed, he said. Some were chained to clapboard boxes offering little shelter; others were chained

to trees. A half dozen dogs lay dead across the snow, Farnham said. Hunks of flesh were missing from their emaciated bodies. 'It wasn't very hard to figure out what had happened,' he said. 'The live dogs were starving, and they were eating the dead ones.'""Eventually, the state filed 17 charges of reckless neglect against her [Charlotte Fitzhugh].""'We have 60 plus below here and they don't all have houses," said Terry Endres, who owns the Chistochina Lodge. 'Some nights, when it was still, you could hear those dogs crying all night long.''You've seen pictures of people starving to death in Somalia? That's what they looked like,' [Will] Forsberg said. 'I saw some dogs there so skinny I wondered if they could even get up.'On Christmas Eve 1993, Alaska State Trooper Don Pierce searched Fitzhugh's yard after several of her neighbors

reported she hadn't been seen for days. They were worried a cold snap would take a toll on the dogs.'As I walked onto the property, I started seeing dead dogs,' Pierce said. 'They were dead on the ends of chains. ... It was real grim.' Pierce said he found five bodies that day. Necropsies later showed the dogs had less than 1 percent body fat. 'The dogs were essentially feeding on their own tissue and organs,'he said.'"- Peter S. Goodman, Anchorage Daily News, April 7, 1995Norman Mac-Alpine charged with animal cruelty: "An Anvik man who competed in the 1983 Iditarod and often runs the Yukon 200 has been charged with animal cruelty after four of his dogs died while he was out of town. Alaska State Troopers said Norman Mac-Alpine, 29, left his dogs without food or water for almost five days while he was in

Grayling, a nearby village." - S.J. Komarnitsky, Anchorage Daily News, October 2, 1993 Frank Winkler charged with animal cruelty:"Iditarod musher Frank Winkler was charged Friday with animal cruelty for bludgeoning 14 sled-dog puppies with an ax handle, although he said in an interview earlier this month that he reluctantly shot them. After a neighbor reported hearing puppies whimpering in the night, an animal-control officer visited Winkler's trailer Sept. 7 and found the battered puppies piled in a crate in the back of his pickup. Two were barely alive and the rest were dead. One of the live pups 'was crying and was cold, clammy, wet, bloody and showed clinical signs of shock,' Assistant District Attorney Mindy McQueen wrote in a charging document. The other was half-buried in the pile of dead pups. Both live dogs had crushed skulls and were later killed by animal-control officers."-

Marilee Enge, Anchorage Daily News, September 21, 1991 Adequate dog care is too costlyMany mushers have gigantic kennels. Think about how much it costs to take care of just one dog. A healthy dog needs veterinary checkups every year and other items like food, enteric worm medication, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, vaccinations and professional teeth cleaning. Think about how much more it costs to care for a sick dog.Dogs don't get routine veterinary care:Consider how expensive it is to get annual check-ups, routine vaccinations and year-round heartworm, flea and tick preventative for just one dog. Could you imagine doing all this for a kennel of 75, 100, 150, 200? It's not practical, and it doesn't happen. The dogs get the bare minimum of vaccines to be able to legally cross borders and compete in sled dog races."- Ashley

Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs - Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007Dogs don't alway get vet care when they are sick:"The dogs don't always get vet care when they are sick or injured. And it is cheaper to just let the dog die. God forbid parvo or something like that ever hit one of these places - it would be a mess. With some dogs, mushers have a 'wait and see' policy. It's horrid to see the dogs sitting there in obvious discomfort, let me tell you. The more valuable dogs get better vet care." - Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs- Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007Do you believe that mushers can afford to

adequately care for as many as 90 dogs or more?"The sprawling Matanuska-Susitna Borough is Alaska sled dog country, a hub for professional and recreational mushers lured by a vast network of trails and the freedom to keep kennels that can number as many as 100 dogs or more."- Rachel D'Oro, Associated Press, May 2, 2005Lynda Plettner has over 300 dogs: "We have over 300 dogs at our kennel...."- Plettner Kennels website, 2005Joe Redington, Sr. had 527 dogs:"By 1990 we

had five hundred and twenty-seven dogs." - Joe Redington, Sr., May, 1999, preface to Lew Freedman's book Father of the IditarodRachael Scdoris has from 90 to 100 dogs or more:Helen Fields: "How many dogs do you have?" Rachael Scdoris: "About 90."- Helen Fields, U.S. News & World Report, Feb. 24, 2006"I have an enormous kennel and about 100

dogs...."- Rachael Scdoris talking about her dog lot- Gillian Gifford, The Star, July 24, 2006Doug Swingley owns from 150 to 200 dogs:"Swingley, a four-time Iditarod champion, owns a stable of about 150 dogs...."- Paul Strelow, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, March 3, 2006"'(Swingley) has usually got between 160 and 200 dogs in his kennels,' [Matt] Anderson, who bought his first dogs from Swingley, said."- Bren T. Boyce, The Nonpareil, August 20, 2006Mushers can't bond with all their dogs dogs Rob Moore: "Now the mushers do say their dogs are treated very well. And, I read that they have these romantic statements about the strong bond between musher and dog. But can there be a strong bond? And, can there be proper treatment in these kennels or between them and these dogs that they're breeding to race in this one race? Ethel, I'll direct that to you." Ethel Christensen: "It's all media hype. I mean, you can't have anything negative in the media about the Iditarod. And it's all hype. I'm sorry but it's just not true. But, don't get me wrong. I love mushing. I love the recreational mushing and there's of good people that are mushers out there, but the race is not humane. It's inhumane and I don't see how they could possibly bond with all their dogs."[From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: Iditarod

mushers routinely have kennels of 90 to 200 dogs.] - Ethel Christensen is the founder and former Executive Director of the Alaska SPCA- Rob Moore hosts Animal Voices, a radio show in Toronto, Canada. - This interview was done on February 28, 2006Click DOGS to get an idea of how many dogs mushers own.Many dogs have no names"The mushers don't have much interaction with the dogs, it's mostly the handlers that are responsible for their upkeep. In the large kennels, the mushers don't know one dog from another unless the dog is on the main

team. The dogs who are not on the main team don't have names." - Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs - Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007Dogs in remote areas don't get veterinary careDr. Paula Kislak: "Most of these mushers live really out in very remote areas, so there is no way that these dogs are getting any veterinary care at all, except what's being administered by the musher him or herself. And, of course the euthanasia, they would never bring an animal in by airplane or lengthy drives to be euthanized. So, they're going to use whatever they find the most expedient. And of course a gunshot, well that uses a bullet and it's cheaper even just to drown them, because every penny that they spend, litterally every penny that they spend going into animal

care or animal destruction is out of their profit or bottom line. And they look at it that way."Janice Blue: "It's really disgusting." - Janice Blue is the host of the radio program Go Vegan Texas, KPFT- Dr. Paula Kislak, DVM, is president of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights- The interview was done on February 27, 2006Sick and injured dogs often get no veterinary careNo veterinary care for sick and injured dogs:"Because there are so many dogs in the larger kennels, handlers just clean up the poop and give the dogs food, so the socialization aspect is definitely lacking along with personal care for toenails, grooming, etc. In these kennels, handlers don't know the individual dogs well and often don't recognize when the dogs are sick. Also, most handlers

don't stay long and don't get to know the dogs. The dogs that get the most attention are those who run the fastest.The dogs don't always get vet care when they are sick or injured. And it is cheaper to just let the dog die. God forbid parvo or something like that ever hit one of these places - it would be a mess. With some dogs, mushers have a 'wait and see' policy. It's horrid to see the dogs sitting there in obvious discomfort, let me tell you. The more valuable dogs get better vet care."- Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs - Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007 "I've seen firsthand dogs left on chains for months on end with basically no attention other than being given food and water, some with

inadequate shelter from the elements, others with unattended illnesses or injuries." - Rebecca Knight, Anchorage Daily News, May 30, 2007 - Rebecca Knight lives in the Mat-Su Borough with her husband and nine huskies. She also volunteers for an animal rescue organization.Dogs don't get fresh water every day"I know of very few kennels that provide fresh water every day. Most don't give any water in the winter except with meals (a soup mixture) because it's near impossible to keep hundreds of water buckets from freezing without hours of extra work every day."- Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs - Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007Horrific conditions in Iditarod champion's

kennel"When I traveled to work for a champion Iditarod and touring kennel in Alaska, I found that over two hundred dogs lived in dilapidated wooden dog houses and plastic barrels, without straw. Even though the temperatures were below zero at night, the few elderly dogs that were present received no bedding or extra care. They slowly crawled out of their dog houses each morning, arthritic and constantly growing thinner from the cold. Poorly constructed and maintained houses are bad because they provide little to no warmth for the dog. Temperatures are bad enough in Alaska, but wind chill factors make it even worse." - Ashley Keith, former musher and Iditarod kennel employee who now rescues and rehabilitates abused sled dogs- Email to the Sled Dog Action Coalition, April 28, 2007Few sled dogs are adopted"So far this spring, the shelter

[the North Star Borough Animal Shelter] has reached its maximum at 25 huskies. In one week, three were put to death. Five were adopted, which is encouraging but it's very rare to have that many find homes in one week, said Sandy Klimaschesky, the lead animal tender at the shelter. Sometimes because the shelter is so full, some dogs go right from the front door to be euthanized, she said.""But the facts are that each year, more than 1,000 sled dogs wind up at the shelter and of those, only about a third are adopted." - Associated Press, Anchorage Daily News, May 7, 2007 [From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: The Fairbanks North Star Borough is one of 32 geographic areas listed by the United States Census Bureau.]Back to the top Articles about the IditarodDog deathsPoor veterinary careMushers mistreat their dogs during raceDog injuries, sicknesses and extreme stressProblems with Iditarod rulesGreed fuels the IditarodCruel dog training Iditarod history http://pets.Fortheanimals7/join