People really Need to examine there words to each other, this was a Horrible Tradgedy, We shall Learn from this and in all hopes that the Iditarod will come up with better way to Protect the dogs.. Dorado I didn't know you but I cried when I head about this.. You did not die in Vain.
It's unconscionable that a news source like CBS publishes a fluff piece like this. There is another side to this issue, and it needs to be heard. The musher crowd uses the word "facts" very liberally, but some facts are omitted while others are simply replaced with maudlin generalizations about how they love the dogs, what good care they receive, blah, blah, blah.
This year they have even had the brass balls to say that the dog who died had gotten good care. Perhaps there's a difference between the mushers' definition of "good care" and that of the rest of the world. Leaving a dog who is too impaired to continue the race outside during a blizzard so that he suffocates under a snow drift can hardly be called "good care" by any reasonable standard.
The Iditarod crowd stresses that the dogs love to run. True enough, but not for 1,000 miles. Marathon runners love to run, too, but they wouldn't want to run for 1,000 either. And the fact that they fail to mention is that during the rest of the year, these dogs who love to run are tethered to short chains.
The Iditarod has built quite a propaganda machine - even working to indoctrinate school teachers "through unique educational opportunities" so that they can bring the message to their impressionable students. The Iditarod even goes so far as to provide Iditarod lesson plans! What's wrong with this picture? There is something very twisted going on here, and it deserves much closer scrutiny by the press and humane associations.
1) Except for this year when one dog became buried by a snow drift, there has been no dog deaths since the 2009 Iditarod. 2) Dog care is taken seriously. There are 45 veterinarians that monitor the dogs before, during and after the race to insure their well being - about one veterinarian per 22 race dogs. And when Ramy Brooks was found to have abused dogs in 2007, he was suspended for two years and placed on probation for another 3. 3) If any of the commentators here would have actually spent time with the dogs, they would know that these dogs live to run and would likely rather die doing what they love than be one of the 6-8 millions dogs and cats in shelters where 50% of those are euthanized every year (per HSUS statistics, and which indicates it is far safer to be a sled dog.)
I'm sure that you'll find that the dog team a musher enters in the race are hand-picked as the toughest, healthiest dogs of greatest stamina and world-class ability that he/she can put together.
It's very unlikely that any one of them would just drop dead during that 2 weeks if not for the Iditarod conditions.
Your piece on the Iditarod was totally unbalanced, which distorted the true picture of the race. There was no mention that this race kills dogs just about every year; at least 143 to date.
Isn't CBS aware that one dog died this year at a rest stop, left out in a snow storm, with over 100 other dogs? Dog deaths average more than three per race. Six dogs died in 2009.
More than half the dogs did not finish the race which happens every year. According to the Iditarod website, 649 dogs did not make it to the finish, which is 62% of the 1040 dogs who started. The dogs were dropped due to injury, exhaustion, or not wanting to continue. No musher finished with all 16 of their dogs and some finished with only 7 dogs.
It is cruel to have such a long, treacherous, unnecessary race when over half the dogs cannot finish, at the proven risk of injury, exhaustion, or death.
In the interest of fair reporting it would be appropriate to do a piece that at least includes facts from the other side.
Shame on CBS Morning for hyping the Iditarod and the Seaveys! Terrible things happen to dogs during the Iditarod. This includes: death, bloody stools, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, kennel cough, broken bones, torn muscles and extreme stress. At least 142 dogs have died in the race, including four dogs who froze to death in the brutal cold.
Iditarod dogs endure brutal training. Jeanne Olson, who has been a veterinarian in Alaska since 1988, confirmed the brutality used by mushers training dogs for the Iditarod. She talked about dogs having cracked ribs, broken jaws or skulls from mushers using two-by-fours for punishment. In an article published by the University of Alaska, Dr. Olson said, "There are mushers out there whose philosophy is...that if that dog acts up I will hit that dog to the point where it would rather die than do what it did, 'cause the next time it is gonna die.'"
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This year they have even had the brass balls to say that the dog who died had gotten good care. Perhaps there's a difference between the mushers' definition of "good care" and that of the rest of the world. Leaving a dog who is too impaired to continue the race outside during a blizzard so that he suffocates under a snow drift can hardly be called "good care" by any reasonable standard.
The Iditarod crowd stresses that the dogs love to run. True enough, but not for 1,000 miles. Marathon runners love to run, too, but they wouldn't want to run for 1,000 either. And the fact that they fail to mention is that during the rest of the year, these dogs who love to run are tethered to short chains.
The Iditarod has built quite a propaganda machine - even working to indoctrinate school teachers "through unique educational opportunities" so that they can bring the message to their impressionable students. The Iditarod even goes so far as to provide Iditarod lesson plans! What's wrong with this picture? There is something very twisted going on here, and it deserves much closer scrutiny by the press and humane associations.
2) Dog care is taken seriously. There are 45 veterinarians that monitor the dogs before, during and after the race to insure their well being - about one veterinarian per 22 race dogs. And when Ramy Brooks was found to have abused dogs in 2007, he was suspended for two years and placed on probation for another 3.
3) If any of the commentators here would have actually spent time with the dogs, they would know that these dogs live to run and would likely rather die doing what they love than be one of the 6-8 millions dogs and cats in shelters where 50% of those are euthanized every year (per HSUS statistics, and which indicates it is far safer to be a sled dog.)
How many have died so far?
Please explain how leaving dozens of dogs outside without shelter in an Alaskan winter snowstorm qualifies as taking care seriously.
How you make the comparison between Iditarod dogs and shelter dogs requires more imagination than I can muster.
Obviously the race is just too long and hazardous to be humane.
Apparently the promoters and mushers feel that it's OK for a few dogs to die every year if that's what it takes to have their ego-driven race.
If you question the 140+, check *your* facts at the Iditarod website and the Anchorage Daily News, where I got mine.
I'm sure that you'll find that the dog team a musher enters in the race are hand-picked as the toughest, healthiest dogs of greatest stamina and world-class ability that he/she can put together.
It's very unlikely that any one of them would just drop dead during that 2 weeks if not for the Iditarod conditions.
Isn't CBS aware that one dog died this year at a rest stop, left out in a snow storm, with over 100 other dogs? Dog deaths average more than three per race. Six dogs died in 2009.
More than half the dogs did not finish the race which happens every year. According to the Iditarod website, 649 dogs did not make it to the finish, which is 62% of the 1040 dogs who started. The dogs were dropped due to injury, exhaustion, or not wanting to continue. No musher finished with all 16 of their dogs and some finished with only 7 dogs.
It is cruel to have such a long, treacherous, unnecessary race when over half the dogs cannot finish, at the proven risk of injury, exhaustion, or death.
In the interest of fair reporting it would be appropriate to do a piece that at least includes facts from the other side.
Iditarod dogs endure brutal training. Jeanne Olson, who has been a veterinarian in Alaska since 1988, confirmed the brutality used by mushers training dogs for the Iditarod. She talked about dogs having cracked ribs, broken jaws or skulls from mushers using two-by-fours for punishment. In an article published by the University of Alaska, Dr. Olson said, "There are mushers out there whose philosophy is...that if that dog acts up I will hit that dog to the point where it would rather die than do what it did, 'cause the next time it is gonna die.'"
FOR MORE FACTS: helpsleddogs.org