Posting for Bonnie, she can stay a little more calm then I can ...lol..


The campaign to help the Iditarod dogs is not a campaign against recreational mushing. Recreational mushing can be fun for both canines and humans. There may be Mushers that do take care of their dogs, but the
ones who don't out number the few that do. If you feel that the statements are not true. I suggest you
write to Jon Saraceno USA Today and Jim Rome at Fox they can be reached at the link below, since they
are the news reporters, that reported on the Iditarod race.

http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm
If you feel the Humane Society facts are untrue contact them. You are right every one has a right to their opionion we
are voicing ours.

I was told Labs like to swim but would you have them swim across the lake from the U.S. To Canada...lets be realistic
no dog wants to run 1,150 miles in nine days.

No matter what to many dogs are being abused, the many out number the few. That's all I'm saying
argue with yourself.






How do mushers benefit from running their dogs in the Iditarod?

Many thousands of dollars in prizes are awarded to the winning mushers. The largest prize is given to the musher whose team crosses the finish line first. However, prize money is also given to teams who first reach certain points along the trail. Mushers who are hired to be in corporate advertisements receive substantial financial benefits, as do mushers who reap royalties from the sales of books they write or the speeches they give. These corporations turn their face away from the cruelties the dogs are forced to endure.

More mushers will receive prize money than ever before:

'This year (2000), the Iditarod Trail Committee plans to hand out a record purse of more than $525,000 divided among the top 30 finishers - not just the top 20, as in years past."

- Staff and wire reports, Anchorage Daily News, March 13, 2000


Do many native Alaskans participate in the race?

The Humane Society of the United States says, "With the annual cost of putting together a competitive Iditarod team estimated at up to $60,000, very few native Alaskans are able to participate."



Are Iditarod dogs kept permanently tethered on short chains?
In many kennels, dogs spend their entire lives outside chained up to their dog house. In these musher's kennels, a dog can have a chain as short as four feet long. In 1997, the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) determined that the permanent tethering of dogs, as the primary means of enclosure, was inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The permanent chaining of dogs is prohibited in all cases where federal law applies.



Some reasons why permanent tethering is cruel are as follows:
1) 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.

2) Because the chained dog is always close to his own fecal material, he can easily catch deadly parasitical diseases by stepping in or sniffing his own waste. The ground within the dog's chained area may have a high concentration of parasite larvae.

3) Even if the fecal matter is picked up, the area where the dog can move about becomes hard-packed dirt that carries the stench of animal waste. The odor and the waste attract flies which bite the dog's ears, often causing serious bloody wounds and permanent tissue damage.

4) Continuous chaining psychologically damages dogs and makes many of them aggressive animals.



At least 117 dogs have been run to death or have died from other causes in the Iditarod. There is no official count of dog deaths available for the race's early years. "

--The Humane Society of the United States