PETA apologizes to Iditarod musher after dog death

ANCHORAGE, Alaska People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has apologized to an Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher whose dog died at a checkpoint.

PETA last month accused Fairbanks musher Paige Drobny of leaving her dog unattended and said she should be criminally prosecuted.

Drobny dropped a dog at a race checkpoint, where it was cared for by race officials. But snow from a storm covered the dog and it died of asphyxiation.

Drobny's attorney threatened to sue if PETA didn't retract its original accusation and KTUU-TV reports the organization did so Friday.

A PETA statement says Drobny couldn't have known a storm was heading to the checkpoint and that she's not culpable for the dog's death. The organization apologized for suggesting she was.

Drobny called the apology "weak."