5 Iditarod Dogs Now Dead: Mushers Unmoved, Welfare Org Not Opposed

by Stephanie Ernst

categories: Animals in Entertainment, Companion Animals

Published March 21, 2009 @ 04:10PM PT

AP Photo

Last time I wrote, three dogs were dead because of the Iditarod. Now we're up to five. And it's not over yet. But even mushers who have watched their dogs die are still not changing their minds about reentering in future years, and even major animal protection organizations are refusing to speak out against the Iditarod--and are barely coming short of endorsing it. If you're thinking "What the hell?!" you're not alone. Read on.

Like other mushers who have learned nothing from the deaths and near-deaths of the dogs they're supposed to care for, another man who watched two of his dogs die in this year's race--and who speaks about that experience while choking back tears--insists he'd do it all again. As genuinely upset as he apparently is over the deaths of these dogs, the flip still hasn't been switched for him--he'd still risk the lives of additional dogs given the chance, despite this harrowing experience. From the AP article "Dog deaths at Iditarod renew cries from animal activists":

He was rescued more than a day after he set out — but not before he had lost two of his 15 animals.

One dog, Grasshopper, began to falter. He became lethargic, his eyes rolling back in his head. Packer wrapped the dog in his parka and placed it in the sled.

"He got worse and worse and worse," he said, his eyes shiny with tears. "I just watched him die. It was awful. There was nothing I could do. It was horrible. It was just horrible to watch."

About 20 minutes later, Dizzy started sinking, too, and he died soon after Packer felt ice crystals clinging to the dog's skin beneath the fur.

"I'm just numb," said Packer, who suffered mild frostbite in one eye and spoke as Sky, another dog from his team, sat quietly at his side. He believes his team would have stayed ahead of the worst of the storm had he not spent more than three hours helping a musher who had crashed earlier in the race.

"I can't believe it happened," he said. "Dog deaths are something you hear about and you go, 'Well, that's not ever going to happen to me.' And then I had two." . . .

Packer's dogs were among five animals that have died in this year's race, with about a dozen teams still on the trail on Saturday. At least one Iditarod dog typically perishes in the race, often from gastric ulcers that develop on the trail. Three dogs died last year. . . .

Packer says he's not done with the Iditarod, despite his ordeal. He believes the extreme conditions were an aberration and his team of dogs were actually in superb condition.

"It's just such an incredible experience to cross the Alaska Range with a dog team, to cross this huge range of mountains," he said. "You go through some incredibly beautiful country."

Stunned? Frustrated? It gets worse.

At least one animal welfare group — the Humane Society of the United States — no longer actively campaigns against the Iditarod, although officials aren't endorsing it either.

They acknowledge, however, the event's significance in commemorating the work of dog teams that were sent on the trail in 1925 to bring diphtheria serum to Nome to combat a deadly outbreak.

"I would like to see the Iditarod celebrate the history and culture of the event and not be just a timed event, but they're trying to make it as safe as they can for both the animals and humans," said Dave Pauli, the humane society's Western region director. "We're definitely reformists and not abolitionists on an event like this."

Sounds close enough to an endorsement to me. I'm sure it means a great deal to this year's five dead dogs and all the other dozens of dogs who have died over the years that the Humane Society is "reformist" about this and trusting of the race organizers "to make it as safe as they can." I'll refrain from commenting while angry on why I think this position is being taken.

See Alex Melonas's post from earlier today countering the defenses of the Iditarod and these previous posts (and their intense comment threads, which were part of the impetus for Alex's post):

• Victor: The First Death of the 2009 Iditarod
• Dear Iditarod Participants and Supporters
• Nigel, Lost Iditarod Dog, Found Alive; Musher Learns Nothing
• At Least Two More Dogs Dead in Iditarod