ilovehounds
01-27-2002, 08:56 AM
I just recieved this in the mail, I know there are some fans but I was aked to post it here. Im just copying and pasting ;)
Hi All,
Please cross post, and if you chose to boycott a company, there
is a sample letter, included.
Thanks For Being You
Bonnie And My Girls
Subject: Companies sponsoring Iditarod dog sled race brutalities
From The Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org:
The brutality continues. Dogs who are forced to run in the Iditarod dog
sled
race need your help. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the
Iditarod
or who are unwanted for any other reason are shot in the head, dragged
or
clubbed to death. "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs
are
clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death
in
harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's
Bush
Blade Newspaper (March, 2000).
The Iditarod is condemned by animal protection groups and concerned
animal
lovers across the United States. Iditarod dogs are cruelly treated by
mushers
and those who would profit from the exploitation of these animals. This
race
forces dogs to run 1,150 miles, which is the approximate distance
between
New
York City and Orlando, over a grueling terrain in 9 to 14 days. In
"WinterDance: the Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod," Gary Paulsen
describes witnessing an Iditarod musher brutally kicking a dog to death
during the race. He wrote, "All the time he was kicking the dog. Not
with
the
imprecision of anger, the kicks, not kicks to match his rage but aimed,
clinical vicious kicks. Kicks meant to hurt deeply, to cause serious
injury.
Kicks meant to kill."
Below is a list of some of the companies associated with the 2002
Iditarod.
A
complete list is found on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm.
There is
also a sample letter below. If you will be boycotting a company, please
say
so in your letter.
Sample letter: found below company contact information
Musher sponsors:
Minnesota Wild NHL Hockey Team
317 Washington Street
Saint Paul, MN 55102
Phone: (651) 602-6000
Fax: (651) 222-1055
Email: [email protected]
William R. Johnson, CEO
H.J. Heinz Company (Nature's Recipe Pet Food)
600 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Toll free phone: 1-800-237-3856
Fax: 412-456-6128
Email: [email protected]
Luigi Francavilla, Co-CEO
Roberto Chemello, Co-CE
Luxottica (LensCrafters- optical retailers)
32021 Agordo
Belluno, Italy
Fax: +39-0437-63223
Email message box: http://www.luxottica.it/english/contact.html
Charles A. Ledsinger, Jr., CEO
Choice Hotels (Comfort Inns)
10750 Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20901
Toll free phone: (800) 424-6423
Email: [email protected]
Stanford Kurland, CEO
Countrywide Credit Industries, Inc. (Countrywide Home Loans)
4500 Park Granada
Calabasas, CA 91302-1613
Phone: 818-225-3000
Fax: 818-225-4051
Email: [email protected]
Stephen J. Winjum, CEO
NovaMed Eyecare, Inc. (Hobson - Tasman Eye & Blue Laser Group)
980 N. Michigan Ave., Ste. 1620
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-664-4100
Fax: 312-664-4250
Email: [email protected]
Alan G. Lafley, CEO
Procter & Gamble (Iams)
One Procter & Gamble Plaza
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-983-1100
Fax: 513-983-9369
Email: [email protected]
Timothy Boyle, CEO
Columbia Sportswear Company (skiwear, shoes, casual wear)
14375 NW Science Park Drive
Portland, OR 97229-5418
Tel: 503-985-4000
Fax: 503-985-5800
Email: [email protected]
Eugene Bissell , CEO
UGI Corporation (AmeriGas)
460 N. Gulph Rd.
King of Prussia, PA 19406
Phone: 610-337-7000
Fax: 610-992-3259
Email: [email protected]
Michael Moran, Chmn
Spiegel, Inc. (Eddie Bauer)
3500 Lacey Rd.
Downers Grove, IL 60515-5432
Phone: 1-800-474-5555 (toll free)
Email: [email protected]
Stephen Bollenbach, CEO
Hilton Hotels
9336 Civic Center Dr.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Phone: 310-278-4321
Fax: 310-205-7678
Email: [email protected]
Barry S. Sternlicht, CEO
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (Sheraton Hotels)
777 Westchester Ave.
White Plains, NY 10604
Phone: 914-640-8100
Fax: 914-640-8310
Email: [email protected]
Christel DeHaan, CEO
Christel DeHaan Family Foundation, Inc.
10 West Market Street, Suite1990
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Email: [email protected]
National Wild Turkey Federation, Inc
770 Augusta Road
Edgefield, SC 29824
Toll free phone: 1-800-THE-NWTF
Email: [email protected]
Iditarod race sponsors:
John Wilson, CEO
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels
Scarsdale Place, Kensington
London W8 5SR, United Kingdom
Phone: +44-20-7872-2444
Fax: +44-20-7872-2460
Email: [email protected]
Lord Blyth, Chmn
Diageo plc (Brands include: Royal Crown, Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker,
Guinness)
8 Henrietta Place
London W1M 9AG, United Kingdom
Phone: +44-612-207-927-5200
Fax: +44-612-2
Email:[email protected]
Micky Arison, CEO
Carnival Corporation (Holland America Line)
3655 NW 87 Ave.
Miami, FL 33178
Phone: 1-888-227-6482 (toll free)
Fax: 305-406-4700
Email: [email protected]
Joseph A. Pichler, CEO
Kroger Co. (Fred Meyer Stores)
1014 Vine St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-762-4000
Fax: 513-762-1160
Email: [email protected]
Richard M. Kovacevich, CEO
Wells Fargo & Company
402 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94163
Phone: 1-800-411-4932 (toll free)
Fax: 415-677-9075
Email: [email protected]
Alan Lacy, CEO
Sears, Roebuck & Co.
3333 Beverly Road
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179
Phone: (847) 286-2500
Fax: (847) 286-7829
Email: [email protected]
Hermann J. Strenger, Chmn
Bayer (gives Iditarod free medications)
Werk Leverkusen 51368
Leverkusen, Germany
Phone: +49-214-30-58992
Fax: +49-214-307-1985
Email: [email protected]
Sample letter for you to personalize:
Dear
I understand your company is associated with the Iditarod, and I would
like
to bring some facts to your attention. This race is condemned by animal
protection groups and concerned animal lovers across the United States.
Please stop supporting this abusive race and all of the evils
associated
with
it.
Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced
to run
1,150 miles over a grueling terrain in 9 to 14 days, which is the
approximate
distance between Orlando and New York City. Dog deaths and injuries are
common in the race. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the
Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox
sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel
sports
columnist George Diaz said the race is "a barbaric ritual" and "an
illegal
sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist Bruce Horovitz said
the
race is a "public-relations minefield."
Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures, and for more information.
Be
sure to read the quotes on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm. All
of
the material on the site is true and verifiable.
At least 117 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count
of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. In WinterDance: the
Fine
Madness of Running the Iditarod, Gary Paulsen describes witnessing an
Iditarod musher brutally kicking a dog to death during the race. He
wrote,
"All the time he was kicking the dog. Not with the imprecision of
anger, the
kicks, not kicks to match his rage but aimed, clinical vicious kicks.
Kicks
meant to hurt deeply, to cause serious injury. Kicks meant to kill."
Causes of death have also included strangulation in towlines, internal
hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure,
and
pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a fatal condition in
which
a dog's muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged
exercise,
have also occurred. The 1976 Iditarod winner, Jerry Riley, was accused
of
striking his dog with a snow hook (a large, sharp and heavy metal
claw). In
1996, one of Rick Swenson's dogs died while he mushed his team through
waist-deep water and ice. The Iditarod Trail Committee banned both
mushers
from the race but later reinstated them. In many states these incidents
would
be considered animal cruelty.
In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for
by
inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold
and
died. Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit.
Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:
"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into
their
ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They
understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission
the
same way elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it.
And
you know what? They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon
Saraceno's column
Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed
Mushing
Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that
"‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "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...A whip is a very humane training tool."
Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, 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 or clubbed
to
death. "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed
with
baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in
harnesses....."
wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade
Newspaper
(March, 2000).
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."
The race has led to the proliferation of concentration-camp-like dog
kennels
in which the dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100
dogs
and some have as many as 200. It is standard for the dogs to spend
their
entire lives outside tethered to metal chains that can be as short as
four
feet long. In 1997 the United States Department of Agriculture
determined
that the tethering of dogs was inhumane and not in the animals' best
interests. The chaining of dogs as a primary means of enclosure is
prohibited
in all cases where federal law applies. A dog who is permanently
tethered is
forced to urinate and defecate where he sleeps, which conflicts with
his
natural instinct to eliminate away from his living area. Because he is
close
to his own to his own fecal material, a dog can easily catch deadly
parasitical diseases by stepping in or sniffing his own waste.
The Alaska SPCA has called for an end to the breeding and culling
(killing)
of these dogs. Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance of
parole.
Please end your company's association with the Iditarod dog sled race.
Sincerely,
Hi All,
Please cross post, and if you chose to boycott a company, there
is a sample letter, included.
Thanks For Being You
Bonnie And My Girls
Subject: Companies sponsoring Iditarod dog sled race brutalities
From The Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org:
The brutality continues. Dogs who are forced to run in the Iditarod dog
sled
race need your help. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the
Iditarod
or who are unwanted for any other reason are shot in the head, dragged
or
clubbed to death. "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs
are
clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death
in
harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's
Bush
Blade Newspaper (March, 2000).
The Iditarod is condemned by animal protection groups and concerned
animal
lovers across the United States. Iditarod dogs are cruelly treated by
mushers
and those who would profit from the exploitation of these animals. This
race
forces dogs to run 1,150 miles, which is the approximate distance
between
New
York City and Orlando, over a grueling terrain in 9 to 14 days. In
"WinterDance: the Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod," Gary Paulsen
describes witnessing an Iditarod musher brutally kicking a dog to death
during the race. He wrote, "All the time he was kicking the dog. Not
with
the
imprecision of anger, the kicks, not kicks to match his rage but aimed,
clinical vicious kicks. Kicks meant to hurt deeply, to cause serious
injury.
Kicks meant to kill."
Below is a list of some of the companies associated with the 2002
Iditarod.
A
complete list is found on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm.
There is
also a sample letter below. If you will be boycotting a company, please
say
so in your letter.
Sample letter: found below company contact information
Musher sponsors:
Minnesota Wild NHL Hockey Team
317 Washington Street
Saint Paul, MN 55102
Phone: (651) 602-6000
Fax: (651) 222-1055
Email: [email protected]
William R. Johnson, CEO
H.J. Heinz Company (Nature's Recipe Pet Food)
600 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Toll free phone: 1-800-237-3856
Fax: 412-456-6128
Email: [email protected]
Luigi Francavilla, Co-CEO
Roberto Chemello, Co-CE
Luxottica (LensCrafters- optical retailers)
32021 Agordo
Belluno, Italy
Fax: +39-0437-63223
Email message box: http://www.luxottica.it/english/contact.html
Charles A. Ledsinger, Jr., CEO
Choice Hotels (Comfort Inns)
10750 Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20901
Toll free phone: (800) 424-6423
Email: [email protected]
Stanford Kurland, CEO
Countrywide Credit Industries, Inc. (Countrywide Home Loans)
4500 Park Granada
Calabasas, CA 91302-1613
Phone: 818-225-3000
Fax: 818-225-4051
Email: [email protected]
Stephen J. Winjum, CEO
NovaMed Eyecare, Inc. (Hobson - Tasman Eye & Blue Laser Group)
980 N. Michigan Ave., Ste. 1620
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-664-4100
Fax: 312-664-4250
Email: [email protected]
Alan G. Lafley, CEO
Procter & Gamble (Iams)
One Procter & Gamble Plaza
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-983-1100
Fax: 513-983-9369
Email: [email protected]
Timothy Boyle, CEO
Columbia Sportswear Company (skiwear, shoes, casual wear)
14375 NW Science Park Drive
Portland, OR 97229-5418
Tel: 503-985-4000
Fax: 503-985-5800
Email: [email protected]
Eugene Bissell , CEO
UGI Corporation (AmeriGas)
460 N. Gulph Rd.
King of Prussia, PA 19406
Phone: 610-337-7000
Fax: 610-992-3259
Email: [email protected]
Michael Moran, Chmn
Spiegel, Inc. (Eddie Bauer)
3500 Lacey Rd.
Downers Grove, IL 60515-5432
Phone: 1-800-474-5555 (toll free)
Email: [email protected]
Stephen Bollenbach, CEO
Hilton Hotels
9336 Civic Center Dr.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Phone: 310-278-4321
Fax: 310-205-7678
Email: [email protected]
Barry S. Sternlicht, CEO
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (Sheraton Hotels)
777 Westchester Ave.
White Plains, NY 10604
Phone: 914-640-8100
Fax: 914-640-8310
Email: [email protected]
Christel DeHaan, CEO
Christel DeHaan Family Foundation, Inc.
10 West Market Street, Suite1990
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Email: [email protected]
National Wild Turkey Federation, Inc
770 Augusta Road
Edgefield, SC 29824
Toll free phone: 1-800-THE-NWTF
Email: [email protected]
Iditarod race sponsors:
John Wilson, CEO
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels
Scarsdale Place, Kensington
London W8 5SR, United Kingdom
Phone: +44-20-7872-2444
Fax: +44-20-7872-2460
Email: [email protected]
Lord Blyth, Chmn
Diageo plc (Brands include: Royal Crown, Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker,
Guinness)
8 Henrietta Place
London W1M 9AG, United Kingdom
Phone: +44-612-207-927-5200
Fax: +44-612-2
Email:[email protected]
Micky Arison, CEO
Carnival Corporation (Holland America Line)
3655 NW 87 Ave.
Miami, FL 33178
Phone: 1-888-227-6482 (toll free)
Fax: 305-406-4700
Email: [email protected]
Joseph A. Pichler, CEO
Kroger Co. (Fred Meyer Stores)
1014 Vine St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-762-4000
Fax: 513-762-1160
Email: [email protected]
Richard M. Kovacevich, CEO
Wells Fargo & Company
402 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94163
Phone: 1-800-411-4932 (toll free)
Fax: 415-677-9075
Email: [email protected]
Alan Lacy, CEO
Sears, Roebuck & Co.
3333 Beverly Road
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179
Phone: (847) 286-2500
Fax: (847) 286-7829
Email: [email protected]
Hermann J. Strenger, Chmn
Bayer (gives Iditarod free medications)
Werk Leverkusen 51368
Leverkusen, Germany
Phone: +49-214-30-58992
Fax: +49-214-307-1985
Email: [email protected]
Sample letter for you to personalize:
Dear
I understand your company is associated with the Iditarod, and I would
like
to bring some facts to your attention. This race is condemned by animal
protection groups and concerned animal lovers across the United States.
Please stop supporting this abusive race and all of the evils
associated
with
it.
Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced
to run
1,150 miles over a grueling terrain in 9 to 14 days, which is the
approximate
distance between Orlando and New York City. Dog deaths and injuries are
common in the race. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the
Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox
sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel
sports
columnist George Diaz said the race is "a barbaric ritual" and "an
illegal
sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist Bruce Horovitz said
the
race is a "public-relations minefield."
Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures, and for more information.
Be
sure to read the quotes on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm. All
of
the material on the site is true and verifiable.
At least 117 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count
of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. In WinterDance: the
Fine
Madness of Running the Iditarod, Gary Paulsen describes witnessing an
Iditarod musher brutally kicking a dog to death during the race. He
wrote,
"All the time he was kicking the dog. Not with the imprecision of
anger, the
kicks, not kicks to match his rage but aimed, clinical vicious kicks.
Kicks
meant to hurt deeply, to cause serious injury. Kicks meant to kill."
Causes of death have also included strangulation in towlines, internal
hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure,
and
pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a fatal condition in
which
a dog's muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged
exercise,
have also occurred. The 1976 Iditarod winner, Jerry Riley, was accused
of
striking his dog with a snow hook (a large, sharp and heavy metal
claw). In
1996, one of Rick Swenson's dogs died while he mushed his team through
waist-deep water and ice. The Iditarod Trail Committee banned both
mushers
from the race but later reinstated them. In many states these incidents
would
be considered animal cruelty.
In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for
by
inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold
and
died. Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit.
Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:
"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into
their
ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They
understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission
the
same way elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it.
And
you know what? They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon
Saraceno's column
Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed
Mushing
Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that
"‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "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...A whip is a very humane training tool."
Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, 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 or clubbed
to
death. "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed
with
baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in
harnesses....."
wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade
Newspaper
(March, 2000).
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."
The race has led to the proliferation of concentration-camp-like dog
kennels
in which the dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100
dogs
and some have as many as 200. It is standard for the dogs to spend
their
entire lives outside tethered to metal chains that can be as short as
four
feet long. In 1997 the United States Department of Agriculture
determined
that the tethering of dogs was inhumane and not in the animals' best
interests. The chaining of dogs as a primary means of enclosure is
prohibited
in all cases where federal law applies. A dog who is permanently
tethered is
forced to urinate and defecate where he sleeps, which conflicts with
his
natural instinct to eliminate away from his living area. Because he is
close
to his own to his own fecal material, a dog can easily catch deadly
parasitical diseases by stepping in or sniffing his own waste.
The Alaska SPCA has called for an end to the breeding and culling
(killing)
of these dogs. Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance of
parole.
Please end your company's association with the Iditarod dog sled race.
Sincerely,