Iditarod: Running Sled Dogs to Death

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-03-08 16:34:00 UTC
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You can expect at least three dogs, who are supposed to be in the prime of their lives, to die in Alaska over the next week or so. Maybe as many as six will lose their lives, like last year, or maybe more.

It's Iditarod time.

The famous 1,100-mile dog sled race began this past weekend. Temperatures on the trail are known to plunge to 50 degrees below zero — cold enough to literally freeze dogs to death. Last year, one musher who lost two dogs to the cold said he felt ice forming under the skin of at least one dog before it died, but there was nothing he could do to help the animal.

Sled dogs love to run, there's no doubt about that. But the Iditarod has turned dog sledding into an extreme sport. At the first race in 1973, the speed record was set at 20 days and 49 minutes. The current record, set in 2002, is only 8 days, 22 hours and 46 minutes. Dogs haven't evolved to be that much faster; they're just being pushed harder. Because it's not about the dogs.

It's about the glory. Or maybe it's about the prize money, which is down about 40 percent this year to $590,000. Or maybe it's about the shiny new Dodge truck. Whatever makes people sign up for the race, their dogs pay a high price for it.

Snausages sponsored a "Man Sled Race" for the first time this year, where four teams of men each pulled a dog in a sled. When asked about the race, one of the guys from the winning team said, "The hardest part was the trail." And they only had to run 75 yards.

Unfortunately, the potential lesson was lost on them, as the teams were comprised of mushers who planned to race in the Iditarod.

Like most major sporting events, this one relies on funding from private companies. Ask the Iditarod sponsors to pull their support of this deadly competition.

Photo credit: The U.S. Army

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
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