Actions to take: Contact Iditarod sponsors

The Iditarod
‘The last great race’
A commemoration symbolic of the early history of Alaska, linked to traditions, & the legacy of dog mushing.

The official Iditarod rules state dog deaths are ‘unpreventable’. [legacy]
The sled dog industry perpetuates abuse, neglect, & exploitation. [legacy]

69 mushers have signed for the 2018 Iditarod
Each has a squad of 12-16 dogs
Come March 3rd, approximately 1,000 dogs will be forced to endure the hellish 1,049 mile journey. Fairbanks to Nome. The race can take up to two weeks in temperatures varying from 50 degrees above zero, to 60 degrees below zero.
Tethered dogs hauling mushers on sleds up to 100 miles per day in glacial winds, across perilous terrain, in blinding whiteout snowstorms, ice, & numbing temperatures. Dogs are forced to pull through unforgiving land, two mountain ranges, the Yukon river, & spanning untamed wilderness. It’s Alaska, folks.

The Iditarod is cruelty to dogs.
Alaskan animal cruelty law specifically exempts sled dogs from protection, & has no laws prohibiting overworking an animal. How convenient. In fact, the race couldn’t even be held in other states as by its very nature violates animal cruelty laws.
Alaska hosts an annual competitive sporting event running dogs, & running a death toll. Mushers, & Fans claim the dogs enjoy the race because dogs love to run. Loving to run, & being forced to run are entirely different.

A mushing whip.
Using this weapon all the while chanting mushing isn’t cruelty…

While there is no official count, the 152 recorded sled dog deaths [5 dead in 2017] were for the following reasons:
Drowning, over exertion, dehydration, blunt force trauma, ulcers, hypothermia, hyperthermia, vomiting while running & drowning in their own puke, heart attack, pulmonary edema, tangled in tether and strangled, hit by car, hit by snowmobile, shot by musher for injury, acute aspiration pneumonia, impaled by sled, asphyxiation by snow [buried in snowstorm during severe winds], fighting other dogs, ruptured liver, killed by a Moose, ‘no cause given’, & kicked to death [google Ramy Brooks, & Wes McIntyre]

Dogs are not disposable pieces of sporting equipment.

What can you do?
Contact sponsors! [I’ve linked contact info below]
Wells Fargo was an Iditarod sponsor, but dropped it in 2017 🙌🏻
The Iditarod CEO publicly stated he believed it to be as a result of animal activists.
Please be thoughtful, & refrain from abuse in your message when asking them to drop sponsorship.
Just be sure to hammer on the inherent cruelty of the Iditarod.
It’s only 52 days away….