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Racing Dogs to Death
Imagine running four marathons a day for 11 days straight. Throw in biting winds, blinding snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures. Unthinkable, isn’t it? Yet that’s exactly what dogs in the Iditarod will be forced to do in the next few weeks.
Dogs love to run, but even the most energetic dog wouldn’t choose to run more than 100 miles a day for 10 to 12 days straight while pulling heavy sleds through some of the worst weather conditions on the planet. Along the 1,150-mile stretch, dogs’ feet are torn apart by ice and rocks. Many dogs pull muscles, incur stress fractures or become sick with diarrhea, dehydration, intestinal viruses or bleeding stomach ulcers. Some have died from inhaling their own vomit. The Iditarod—and its cousin, the Yukon Quest—are life-and-death contests, but only for the four-legged participants.
No records were kept in the early days of the Iditarod, but before the start of 1997’s race, the Anchorage Daily News reported that “as many as 34 dogs died in the first two races” and that “at least 107 [dogs] have died” since the Iditarod’s inception. In the 12 years since that report, at least 29 more dogs have died that we know of.
Mushers ride and sleep while dogs pull. In February’s Yukon Quest, two mushers—including four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser—ran out of food for their dogs. Buser fed his dogs reduced rations; the other musher resorted to feeding his dogs melted snow.
Iditarod organizers downplay dogs’ suffering and work to hide abuses from the public. Even when mushers are caught beating dogs, as musher Ramy Brooks was in 2007, they barely receive a slap on the wrist. One of Brooks’ dogs later died, but rather than banning this bully for life, the Iditarod committee will allow Brooks to race again.
Life for dogs behind the scenes is immeasurably grim. The vast majority of sled dogs live on short chains with only barrels or dilapidated doghouses for shelter. They rarely know a kind word or a gentle touch, much less a belly rub or a warm snuggle on the couch. Dogs who aren’t fast runners, or who simply don’t have the inclination to participate, are discarded like defective equipment.
Just last month, the bodies of several dogs used in a sledding operation were found frozen to the ground in Tuktoyaktuk, Canada. They had been chained, with no protection from the deadly weather as temperatures dipped below 0ºF. Three other dogs were found still alive, also tethered without shelter and in bad shape.
Last February, Montana authorities seized 33 emaciated dogs who had allegedly been abandoned by an Iditarod musher. In March 2005, 11 abandoned sled dogs in Alaska were found after going more than a week without food or fresh water and more than a month in kennels that reeked of feces and urine. Most kennels operate “under the radar” and are never inspected by any regulatory agency.
All over Alaska and Canada, animal shelters are overburdened with abandoned, neglected and surrendered sled dogs. Not every puppy is born a fast runner, and those who don’t make the grade are often dumped. Others are killed outright—by bludgeoning or drowning—for not possessing monumental stamina and speed. Manuals and articles written by top mushers blatantly recommend killing dogs who do not measure up.
The Iditarod isn’t about honoring Alaskan culture or tradition. It’s a quest to win money, a truck and bragging rights. But how can anyone brag about an event that causes so much suffering?
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26 Comments so far
Show AllInteresting that when the Michael Vick story happened and sports writers like Dave Zirin made light of it, they didnt mention this. The MSM focused on Vick(rightly so) but where was the coverage of this?
There is a weird assumption that dogs are treated like royalty based on anecdotal stories from a very small number of dog pampering cases, but it ignores reality. Dogs in labs, dogs chained to a yard from puppy age and not even expanding the collar so the chain grows under the skin, even using dogs for handicapped care is more about providing a service for humans than caring about the dogs(watching a seeing eye dog on a bus is really sad--they are enslaved and cant behave like normal dogs).
Even Helmsley's will saying the money should go to the dogs was just a way to throw an insult at people. It wasnt a sincere gesture. Part of the money will probably go to torture dogs in laboratories.
Let's face it.
Humanity is garbage.
Its a failed species.
It likes to praise itself as great, but the criteria it uses for superiority is not only shown in other species(compassion, moderation, tolerance) but the lack of it is easy to demonstrate in humans.
Anyone see the story about the care home workers who forced handicapped children to fight each other?
They did the same thing in Ancient Rome for thousands of spectators.
Only humans can do this, and yet the language is set up so that we are supposed to believe that to be kind and nice is to be humane or human, and to be cruel and sadistic is to be inhumane or inhuman/nonhuman.
Its an absurd distortion of reality.
I spent more than a few years working with individuals who were not fortunate enough to have the ability to see. Many of them had Guide Dogs, Seeing Eye Dogs and dogs trained by other agencies for use as mobility guides. Some of the agencies did regular unannounced checks on the manner in which users cared for their animals. Any signs of abuse and the animal was removed. Effectively, you abuse you lose your sight.
I have some problems with people who act as though an animal should have the same rights as a human being. I think their priorities are screwed up. A dog was not born to be "free". Since the first wolf gave up its "freedom" in exchange for a handout and accepted a human as a friend and master, dogs have owed their very existence to the humans. To suggest that it is ethically wrong to use a dog or any other animal in a servant role, so long as the treatment is humane, is to suggest that every domesticated animal should be eradicated because humans don't want to care for them according to the standards of PETA.
What an absolute nauseating piece of information this is. I never knew of this and it angers me greatly.
Me and my son watch the movie Snow Dogs a lot, I will never watch it without thinking of this again.
Something needs to be done. I guess this is somehow more humane than dog fighting?
Pathetic
Window Cleaning Bay Area
Sioux Rose
WEBBER: Thank you for so often and patiently acting as the voice of conscience for those without voices (that humans can interpret). Where Dr. Seuss had the LORAX speak for the trees, you speak for the animals...
Maybe the race should be called the IDIOTron...
Similar to the continuing "sport" of greyhound racing. Yes, sighthounds love to run but when you force them into the racing life (which is very short and unpleasant for the majority) for human greed and profit, it is nothing short of abuse. Research the treatment of dogs that run so some idiot can bet on them- and what happens to those that are unsuccessful or injured. Fortunately, there are rescue organizations that provide loving homes to these dogs- but not all. And even if there are people willing to save the discarded animals, why do we allow the "sport" to continue in the first place?
" ... and what happens to those that are unsuccessful or injured."
They are simply discarded in the nearest dumpster, dead or alive.
d.k.shaw
Yes, I spared everyone the gruesome details. Electrocuted, starved, left to freeze to death, bludgeoned-- you name it. And you'll occasionally read about a bunch of dead greyhounds found buried in a shallow grave, ears removed so the owner, trainer, and/or track can't be traced. (ears have the identification of the dog)
I have to pretty much agree with Webber on the macro scale. Truly kind humans do seem to be the exception. But don't worry. There are nearly 7 billion of us now, and forecasts say we'll be 10-12 billion by 2050. We'll drown in our own filth if we don't first succumb to some "bug" grown in and "accidentally" released from some bio-weapons lab somewhere, and the earth will be free of us finally, once and for all.
d.k.shaw
Human beings are the only animals capable of such behavior.
Other human beings are the only 'others' that can stop it.
It really is that simple.
Good Luck, you really need it.
It's so shameful. Like the Mahatma said, "The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
We know how UNgreat and UNmoral we, as a species, are.
I live in Montana near a town known as "The Sled Dog Capitol of Montana". I have been there first hand to witness what goes on in the mushing industry. I have friends who raise sled dogs. We'll they used to be friends. They had a sign on the road entering their property that said "mushers only". We're not mushers, so we were marginalized.
Eventually the mushing couple broke up and the man kept the dogs while the woman gave up on mushing and moved to town to work in health care. They had about a hundred dogs give or take. The number changes as new puppies were born, and old unwanted dogs were culled. That's right, they were shot by his .22 in the head and thrown into a ditch to be covered up with dirt, to keep the smells down. He only keeps dogs that are worth feeding, dogs that can help him win the qualifiers for the Iditarod (the ultimate goal of all competitive mushers).
He gets a truckload of meat a week from a butcher shop that also processes roadkill deer, elk and whatever gets hit on nearby highways. It's quite an amazing operation. The neighbors are beside themselves with a hundred barking, howling and whining dogs going off at the slightest disturbance at any and all hours day and night. The stink of dog shit and piss is overwhelming, even though he spends a lot of time raking and shoveling.
And yes, all of the dogs are in captivity on short chains with little plastic barrels for shelter. They all go crazy when you go inside the kennels to visit them. You come out stinking and wiping dog shit from your boots.
I had an open mind to dog sledding when I was growing up. I thought it was cool, and I looked up to mushers. Now that I have had experience with it, I am really turned off. I don't know how mushers can keep it up. Even from a financial standpoint, it can't be profitable except to the few top mushers. Even then you'd go broke in a hurry feeding so many dogs. And vet bills?
But it's not the money. It's cruel. And my musher "friend" has a bad temper, so I quit hanging out with him. I think the whole industry should be tossed into the dust bin of history along with war and any other practice that causes suffering.
I had a similar experience with a profession sled-dog-racer as well - it really is pitiful. The sad part is that I met this person through fellow sled-dog afficianados who merely enjoyed going sledding with their dogs. (We raised Samoyeds, and racing ability was not important since these dogs have many other wonderful attributes.) I've also lived near greyhound tracks and agree that they should be outlawed - there is simply too much corruption and abuse involved in that egregious 'sport' - if you want to call it that. But we must remember that there are good and bad people in every walk of life - including dog-sledding. The dogs in the Iditarod must pass vet checks before they can continue - sanity checks for the mushers are NOT required.
Though I don’t condone animal abuse of any kind this article is typical of animal rights groups. Most dog lovers tend to be a bit anthropomorphic. Add in the effect of millions of dollars in advertising by the pet industry ($40B per year) and you get the current canine humanization phenomenon. At one time dogs were just dogs now they’re so conditioned to respond to humans they’re just as neurotic as the rest of society.
With 16,000 children dying of starvation related diseases every day I’m sure they’d gladly trade places with a North American dog that has health care, accident insurance, funeral services, and even psychiatric counseling.
You've completely entirely utterly missed the point of the article.
Did you even bother reading it? At least skimming through it? Or did you just type out the usual anti-animal rights groups spiel?
The article is talking SPECIFICALLY about dogs used to raced in the Iditarod race, and what they are subject to.
Yes, I did read the article; I just put it into perspective. Look at the numbers she is talking about, a hundred here, thirty some there. Yet, the responses seem as if it's the worse problem on the planet and that the Iditarod is a giant puppy eating machine. A majority of "working dog" owners treat their animals well. As with anything it's a few bad apples, but when the subject is "puppy dogs" people lose their minds.
Nothing connects me more than wild animals. I don't hunt and stopped fishing years ago after pulling in a rainbow trout that glinted in the sun on the banks of a clear mountain stream. I've been lucky to see many wild animals in their habitat and realize that that is truly something to save. As others have mentioned here, dogs are part of the human experience and don't reconcile very well with wildness. It's been bred out of them. In fact, dogs are implicit in the expansion of humans and the resultant destruction of habitat. There's probably an aspect of animal prejudice and racism here also but that's another story.
Just to give you a perspective, there were a group of fine upstanding dog owners in my neck of the woods who advocated a coyote eradication program because one of their little pooches was almost eaten.
The responses on CD always make an issue seem as the worst problem on the planet. The responses on this article, Webber's aside, which are always extreme regarding humans vs animals, are tame compared to the ones on Gaza, global warming, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
Do you agree that the practices committed by Iditarod owners are unacceptable?
I understand your rainbow trout story. Ironically, it is part of why hunting and fishing for food seem more acceptable to me than factory farming. The animal gets a chance to live a normal fish life or deer life for a while, and then dies quickly. The hunter or fisherperson gets to see that we kill something beautiful in order to eat meat. The sacrifice is before our eyes, not in some far away and unseen fattening pen or slaughterhouse. Then, if you still make a decision to eat meat, it should come with some regret and reverence.
If we eat less meat or no meat we do a favor to ourselves, to animals and nature.
Joe
Now, extrapolate that - all year, every year, for years on end. That's what slavery was.
http://www.users.bigpond.com/pmurray
http://www.paulmurray.id.au/ageofworms
Webber et al:
I am on my second 'service dog' - and this one, like the last one, is living the life of Riley. He is a retriever (hunting dog), as are most service dogs, and gets to do what he is bred to do without slaughtering the local bird-life. He doesn't run for days, or hunt until he's ready to drop (with bleeding paws) - and he sleeps on my bed, on a down comforter. I often wonder what kind of life his litter-mates now have - most of them confined to kennels or crates in the off-season.
To suggest that service dogs do not totally enjoy their chosen line of work is both outrageous and ridiculous - only 1 out of a 1000 is suited to this kind of work, so they have to like it in order to do it - it's not exactly 'slave labor' by any means. Nor would I force an animal (or person) to do anything they didn't enjoy. My former dog jumped six feet into the air every time his harness was brought out - jumping for joy at the very idea of 'working' for a living. Not exactly slavery or abuse, as one poster suggests! (My new dog is not in harness yet, but he jumps just as high when his training collar is brought out - just mention 'school' and he gets excited.)
I seriously doubt if ANY service dog would prefer the life of his littermates - and anyone who saw the difference would heartily agree. And like many other service dogs, my previous dog was 'rescued' from an animal shelter. He carried the scars of his previous 'carefree life' for 17 years - my new dog came straight from a reputable breeder, and has no such scars. Or worries. Service dogs are deeply appreciated by their clients - and these dogs often look upon their charges as an instinct-born social responsiblity, rather than a burden - the complete opposite of what you suggest. They take great pride in their work - just as any other artisan would do in their chosen field. (Dogs who don't want to do service work CANNOT be coerced into doing so - it is their choice.) This is a win--win situation for BOTH parties.
This has really opened my eyes. I had never really paid attention to this event. My main experience with animal cruelty has been seeing dogs chained outside in the summer without water.
Abusing and neglecting helpless animals is a sign of some kind of moral debasement that probably extends to any powerless being, like a child. It is a sign of a bully.
We should ban using animals for commercial entertainment. Money is the fastest way to get people to turn a blind eye to cruelty. I stopped going to the rodeo and circus at Madison Square Garden long ago because it was obvious the animals were unhappy, humiliated or in pain. How is that entertaining?
But the dog race is Palinesque. As SiouxRose suggests, we should call that race the Idiotirod.
(As for service dogs, I think it is wonderful if the relationship is good. Same with pets. Perhaps I am being a romantic, but I have always felt there is a strong mutual bond between me and cats and dogs that have lived with us. We have gotten every one from the street or a shelter, so I know they are better off than they would have been. It is wonderful to have another type of mammal wandering about.)
Joe
It isn't the racing itself that creates such revulsion - it is the psychopathic barbaric cruelty that 'winning' imposes on the whole 'profession' - all the 'behind the scenes' neglect, abuse, and general savagery involved in raising dogs that are truly competitive in such a high-stakes atmosphere.
After WWII, dogs were the only surviving 'draft' animals left once the Nazis got done decimating Europe. As a child, I saw big dogs pulling every kind of load imaginable on the city streets. In gratitude for this 'sacrifice' to mankind, the Belgians passed a law barring any dog ever being harnessed and worked in such a manner again. (That upsets sled-dog racers, of course.) Just goes to show that not all people are so cruel, barbaric and inhumane. On the other side of the coin, US war dogs are usually destroyed when no longer needed - killed, as were cavalry horses in earlier times. Some things never change...
Back in the nineties I heard of dog food companies buying bulk meat from the cheapest source on the market...
It turns out it was the carcasses of euthenized dogs from the pound... They ground them up, collars and all, and used it as filler in their dog food formula... The pet food industry is even less regulated than human food, and we know how safe and regulated that is...
I know many folks who make their own dog food from scratch, no preservatives or mystery meat to worry about...
Sounds like something that Palin would love along with Turkey slaughter.
Men have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it. You remain responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince
Never criticize a man until you've walked a mile in their moccasins - Native American proverb.
The dog was man's first friend. Dogs have guarded human life and their homes, shepherded their flocks, hunted with them, from time immemorial. Service dogs now give countless people a chance to live normal lives. Dogs work in hospitals, comfort the lonely, share family life, guard our homes, show unconditional love for their owners. People who use dogs like the sled owners, or who race them for bets, or who eat them and use their skins for trade, or who abuse them in laboratories, have simply not evolved to their full human status, are backward savages, are not worth considering, and should be stopped by legislation until they, like all who ill treat animals, reach full humanity.