I worked in a kennel that belonged to an Iditarod musher. So here’s what I have to say. Often dog care is left to the kennel workers or dog handlers. We are paid very little- whatever the minimum wage is with no benefits usually. In general, mushers don’t have enough workers. Keep in mind that they have lots and lots of dogs and most of our work is during very cold weather. What this all boils down into being is that most of the dogs aren’t well taken care of. Understand that the mushers know about all the bad stuff that goes down. Lots of times the musher is part of it.
I’ve seen kennel workers beat dogs. I’ve seen kennel workers not feed dogs they don’t like or not give them water. I’ve seen kennel workers kill dogs. If a dog is sick, most workers are too busy to notice or don’t report it. When a virus spreads through the kennel, most mushers don’t want to pay for the vets- especially if the dogs have a low rank- I’ll explain that later. Mushers sometimes kill the dogs they don’t want or they leave it to us. There are dead dogs under the ground where tourists walk in some kennels.
Dogs have rankings. The ones who race good have the highest rank and it goes down from there. The dogs with the highest rank get the best care. (Some people would still call that awful- the dogs are chained.) The dogs with low rank stay on the chain. Like I said mushers make sure that the high ranked dogs get the most attention. But if they are good at running they are made to run thousands of miles before the Iditarod even begins. And yes, dogs die from it.
Sometimes the mushers take the dogs on training runs. Otherwise, it’s the dog handlers who do it. We usually run the puppies who might have promise of racing good as an adult. I’ve heard stories from ones who say they’ve beaten the dogs when they’re out on the trail.
The kennels churn out puppies as fast as a factory manufactures bolts or screwdrivers. There is always more stock coming in from breeding. Or, if a musher needs a better racer, it can be bought, borrowed or leased.
The mushers running businesses that give kennel tours are entertainers or showmen. Make no mistake. This is all a business. No love. Just business. The less money spent on the dogs, the more profit the musher pockets.
‘John’ – December 5, 2006
‘Dog’s beating left me appalled, sick and shocked’ (Whitehorse Star, Feb. 23/2011).
Ed. note: some readers may find this letter’s graphic details of the violence committed against an Alaskan sled dog disturbing.
It is around one year ago today as I write this, fewer than two weeks before the legendary 2011 Iditarod race start, that, as a dog handler at a private kennel location in Alaska, I witnessed the extremely violent beating of an Iditarod racing dog by one of the racing industry’s most high-profile top 10 mushers. Be assured the beating was clearly not within an “acceptable range” of “discipline”.
Indeed, the scene left me appalled, sick and shocked.
After viewing an individual sled dog repeatedly booted with full force, the male person doing the beating jumping back and forth like a pendulum with his full body weight to gain full momentum and impact.
He then alternated his beating technique with full-ranging, hard and fast, closed-fist punches like a piston to the dog as it was held by its harness splayed onto the ground.
He then staggeringly lifted the dog by the harness with two arms above waist height, then slammed the dog into the ground with full force, again repeatedly, all of this repeatedly.
The other dogs harnessed into the team were barking loudly and excitedly, jumping and running around frenzied in their harnesses.
The attack was sustained, continuing for several minutes perhaps over four minutes, within view at least, until the all-terrain vehicle I was a passenger on turned a curve on the converging trails, and the scene disappeared from view.
This particular dog was just under 10 days out from commencing racing in the long distance Iditarod race. It was later seen to have survived the attack, although bloodied as a result.
Personally, I have never witnessed such a violent attack on a living creature before. The image of that explosion of anger and physical force of one man on a smaller animal is burnt to my memory.
Now, a year on, I look back at last year’s cover page article in a prominent Alaskan news publication, “Surviving the Iditarod”, and the irony of my experience is deep.
The article illustrating the harsh climatic conditions of the endurance race which threatens the dogs’ health and lives, and the conscious, detailed and careful measures taken by vets, mushers and the Iditarod organization to ensure each racing dog has the greatest chance of arriving at Nome humanely treated and alive.
It is not the beating itself that has created a persistent unease for me, disturbing enough as it is.
But the stone-walled, silent denial that followed engenders my persistent need to have a voice for that dog and others that may endure the same abuse away from public scrutiny.
The other witnesses of this attack are two young people, too scared or too stupid when requested to assist me and provide testimony to the Alaskan state trooper, who I notified about the attack. The young people explained to me, “They are not my dogs,” and “I am spineless.”
There was a kennel inspection whereby no person was located on-site to be interviewed by the same state trooper.
Despite that, further investigations based on my account of the attack could not be carried out without the testimony of a second witness in accordance to state law in Alaska.
Animal welfare agencies, the Alaska SPCA and the [City of Alaska Municipality – Note: original letter was unclear regarding this geographic reference, letter writer may have intended ‘City of Anchorage’ instead] were not in a position of authority to provide me with assistance.
Two months after the attack, and after many failed attempts to communicate directly with the Iditarod committee, I contacted PETA U.S.A. for assistance.
In response, the Iditarod committee stated, “The Iditarod is an event, not an enforcement agency,” and Mush With Pride and the state troopers were referred to as more appropriate organizations.
Mush With Pride is an immensely valuable organization developed by sled dog racing industry representatives to self-promote and educate mushers on the wellbeing of sled racing dogs.
In an early phone conversation with Mush With Pride, it was explained that intentional dog abuse is not addressed within their bylaws or objectives; (they) “assume all mushers intend to provide adequate care of their dogs.”
My written requests to add direct abuse to their policy of education have been met with more silence.
The impasse of the situation is of dire consequences to the wellbeing of racing sled dogs in Alaska.
The intention of the state animal protection law, which relies on the strength of several witnesses to stand up to dog abuse, is evidently prone to fail due to “whistle blowers syndrome”.
There is apparently no alternative Alaskan organization willing to acknowledge or openly address intentional sled dog abuse.
Witnesses are easily rendered silent in the face of high-profile employers, and witnesses are dead-ended by the law, yet the relevant race event organizations continue to promote this high-profile, abusive musher throughout “The Greatest Race on Earth”.
That said, where does any hope for responsibility and reform of this behaviour lie? Who is responsible?
Names are used to over-simplify and dust down complex issues into politics, polarization and denial, yet if labels are used as they have been, so be it.
I went to Alaska from Australia last year as an Iditarod race and sled dog enthusiast, and I was labelled an “activist” by the Iditarod committee.
I actively oppose sled dog abuse in any form. I actively promote the recognition of abuse and misconduct. I actively promote the need for re-education and reform in the high-profile arena of sled dog racing and commercial sled dog mushing in Alaska.
I speak for those dogs unable to voice their own needs, and those Alaskans and Yukoners who wish to be informed.
Recent news has emerged from Canada regarding the large-scale slaughter of commercial sled dogs near Whistler, B.C.
Consider the cultural and economic value and continued promotion around the world of the Iditarod and other sled dog races within Alaska, and the proud and compassionate nature I witnessed that regular Alaskans have for their pet animals.
Given this, perhaps it is time to pursue, at the least, an open discussion on the ethics and performance of mushers away from the major events, in a progressive, honest manner in Alaska.
For all is not as it seems in the Alaskan sled dog racing industry.
Some of those truly enduring, heroic dogs continue to survive for sport, culture and industry.
Let it be with humane treatment and integrity, if only because, as desired and promoted by the Alaskan sled dog racing and mushing community, the world is watching.
So should Alaskans [and Yukoners be watching].
Jane Stevens,
Australia
Letter published in Whitehorse Star – Friday Jan. 11, 2013
Iditarod dogs suffer horrendous cruelty every day of their lives. Mushers have drowned, shot, bludgeoned and dragged many dogs to death. For example, Iditarod musher Dave Olesen drowned a litter of newborn puppies. Another musher got rid of unwanted puppies by tying them in a bag and tossing the bag in a creek. Mushers even have a saying about not breeding dogs unless they can drown them: “Those who cannot drown should not breed.”
Terrible things happen to dogs during the Iditarod. This includes: death, bloody diarrhea, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, kennel cough, broken bones, torn muscles and extreme stress. At least 142 dogs have died in the race, including four dogs who froze to death in the brutal cold. Wolf, a dog owned by four-time Iditarod winner Lance Mackey, died in the Iditarod when he regurgitated food and choked on it.
Veterinary care during the Iditarod is poor. In the 2012 race, one of Lance Mackey’s male dogs ripped out all of his 16 toenails trying to get to a female who was in heat. This type of broken toenail is extremely painful. Mackey said he was too stubborn to leave this dog at a checkpoint and veterinarians allowed Mackey to continue to race him. Imagine the agony the dog was forced to endure.
Here’s another example: Veterinarians have allowed dogs with kennel cough to race in the Iditarod even though dogs with this disease should be kept warm and given lots of rest. Strenuous exercise can cause lung damage, pneumonia and even death. To make matters worse, kennel cough is a highly contagious disease that normally lasts from 10 to 21 days.
Iditarod dogs endure brutal training. Jeanne Olson, who has been a veterinarian in Alaska since 1988, confirmed the brutality used by mushers training dogs for the Iditarod. She talked about dogs having cracked ribs, broken jaws or skulls from mushers using two-by-fours for punishment. In an article published by the University of Alaska, Dr. Olson said, “There are mushers out there whose philosophy is…that if that dog acts up I will hit that dog to the point where it would rather die than do what it did, ‘cause the next time it is gonna die.’”
Learn about Iditarod dog cruelties on the Sled Dog Action Coalition website. The Sled Dog Action Coalition has documentation to prove what it says and will provide it upon request.
Margery Glickman
Sled Dog Action Coalition
Miami, FL
http://helpsleddogs.org
Sled Dog Watchdog's Blog 