Targeting This Year’s Iditarod Supporters

Ah yes, it's that time again: When I post (–this time link to) a list of Iditarod supporters and then spend the next couple of days fielding e-mails from representatives of a few of them who claim they are not indeed supporters of the brutal "race" after they have seen how angry the public is that they are indeed supporters. (Last year, one insisted zero support, however, but the connection was there nonetheless.)

Here's what I do with the list: I look for parties I do business with in some way or whose mission I support. For instance, Arctic Midnight Furs, which supporters mushers, wouldn't be a company I'd contact, as their very mission is to disrespect and torture sentient nonhumans. Why on earth would they care about sled dogs? But the Annie E. Casey Foundation funding speaking engagements to children by Rachel Scdoris? Annie E. Casey (more on them here)? (and here's my 2006 post on Scdoris, who is a legally-blind Iditarod musher).

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition . . .

Please send protest emails and forward this alert widely.

Please help end the barbaric treatment of dogs by sending protest emails to organizations that support the Iditarod. What happens to the dogs during the Iditarod includes death, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, bloody diarrhea, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, broken bones, torn muscles and tendons and sprains.

Dog beatings and whippings are common. During the 2007 Iditarod, eyewitnesses  reported that musher Ramy Brooks kicked, punched and beat his dogs with a ski pole and a chain. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, "A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers…"

Iditarod dog kennels are puppy mills. Mushers breed large numbers of dogs and  routinely kill unwanted ones, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason are killed with a shot to the head, dragged, drowned or clubbed to death.

When they're not hauling people, most Iditarod dogs are forced to live at the end of a chain. It has been reported that dogs who don't make the main team are never taken off-chain. Chained dogs have been attacked by wolves, bears and other animals. Old and arthritic dogs suffer terrible pain in the blistering cold.

Most Internet service providers allow people to send up to 40 email addresses at a time. For your convenience, the addresses have been divided into groups of 40. Please email the first group first. Individual email addresses are given under the sample letter. The groups contain addresses for the Iditarod sponsors, promoters, and the sponsors of the 73 mushers who signed up for the 2009 Iditarod. Email blocks with semicolons are on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm.

SAMPLE LETTER (Please personalize the letter.):

Dear Iditarod Supporter:

Please end your organization's support of the Iditarod dog sled race. For the dogs, this event is a bottomless pit of suffering. What happens to the dogs during the Iditarod includes death, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, bloody diarrhea, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, broken bones, torn muscles and tendons and sprains. At least 136 dogs have died in the race. No one knows how many dogs die after this tortuous ordeal or during training. For more facts about the Iditarod, visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website.

On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not make it across the finish line. According to a report published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, of those who do finish, 81 percent have lung damage. A report published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that 61 percent of the dogs who complete the Iditarod have ulcers versus zero percent pre-race.

Iditarod dog kennels are puppy mills. Mushers breed large numbers of dogs and routinely kill unwanted ones, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived their usefulness, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged, drowned or clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses….." wrote former Iditarod dog handler Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper.

Dog beatings and whippings are common. During the 2007 Iditarod, eyewitnesses  reported that musher Ramy Brooks kicked, punched and beat his dogs with a ski pole and a chain. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, "Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective…A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers…"

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom  Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or dragging them to their death."

During the race, veterinarians do not give the dogs physical exams at every checkpoint. Mushers speed through many checkpoints, so the dogs get the briefest visual checks, if that. Instead of pulling sick dogs from the race, veterinarians frequently give them massive doses of antibiotics to keep them running.

Most Iditarod dogs are forced to live at the end of a chain when they aren't hauling people around. It has been reported that dogs who don't make the main team are never taken off-chain. Chained dogs have been attacked by wolves, bears and other animals. Old and arthritic dogs suffer terrible pain in the blistering cold.

Please end your organization's association with this horrific race.

Sincerely,

There's something for everyone on the list, I'm sure.
As I've said about dog racing, if this kind of use is considered acceptable for our best friends, we have little hope of ever rethinking our use of animals we have less affection for. The race will end when the financial support for it ends.