Sled Dog Watchdog: 'Words of Wisdom'

About the Iditarod: Only the SECOND TOUGHEST sled dog race in the world?

From: Thomas Classen

To: Sun, INTERNET: Letters@SunHerald.com

Date: 17 FEB 2005, 4:19 PM

Re: Iditarod

If you think the Iditarod is user friendly you know nothing about dogs and/or mushing. Sure they
make a big show about dog care during the race but what about before and after. It's virtually
nonexistent. If a dog gets sick a bullet in the head solves the problem. There are some dogs that have
made two or three Iditarod runs but most never repeat. A lot of them die after the race but no one
ever hears about them. Many pups are born each spring but not many make the team. What to do with
all the dogs? Again a bullet in the head solves the problem. Not much use in keeping/feeding a dog
that is of no use to you. The life of a race dog is about seven years. One way or another the musher
will get rid of the dog. A dog handler who worked for one of the leading mushers told me this guy
digs a big hole each year and would throw all his dead dogs into it and come spring would cover it up.

Yes dog mushing is great fun but dogs have a limited running life. I trained a team once to run on the
river in back of my home. At the age of five I could see that it was getting to be painful for them so I
had to stop. I kept the dogs and a couple of them lived to be 16 years old. They were pets and well
cared for. If you have heard of Mary Shields she is that type of musher and is still caring for her old
dogs but she is the exception. Try to take care of 50 dogs for a year and you will become acutely
aware of the work involved. Until you walk the path you know nothing about the problem.

The cruelty involved is something no kid should be exposed to. If you tell them otherwise you are
lying.

Thomas Classen
Fairbanks, Alaska
(Thomas Classen is a World War II veteran and a respected citizen of Alaska)

'MSNBC Web Forum Posting by ex-kennel employee of unnamed Iditarod musher'

I worked in a kennel that belonged to an Iditarod musher. So here's what I have to say. Often dog care
is left to the kennel workers or dog handlers. We are paid very little- whatever the minimum wage is
with no benefits usually. In general, mushers don't have enough workers. Keep in mind that they have
lots and lots of dogs and most of our work is during very cold weather. What this all boils down into
being is that most of the dogs aren't well taken care of. Understand that the mushers know about all
the bad stuff that goes down. Lots of times the musher is part of it.

I've seen kennel workers beat dogs. I've seen kennel workers not feed dogs they don't like or not give
them water. I've seen kennel workers kill dogs. If a dog is sick, most workers are too busy to notice or
don't report it. When a virus spreads through the kennel, most mushers don't want to pay for the vets-
especially if the dogs have a low rank- I'll explain that later. Mushers sometimes kill the dogs they don't
want or they leave it to us. There are dead dogs under the ground where tourists walk in some
kennels.

Dogs have rankings. The ones who race good have the highest rank and it goes down from there. The
dogs with the highest rank get the best care. (Some people would still call that awful- the dogs are
chained.) The dogs with low rank stay on the chain. Like I said mushers make sure that the high
ranked dogs get the most attention. But if they are good at running they are made to run thousands of
miles before the Iditarod even begins. And yes, dogs die from it.

Sometimes the mushers take the dogs on training runs. Otherwise, it's the dog handlers who do it. We
usually run the puppies who might have promise of racing good as an adult. I've heard stories from
ones who say they've beaten the dogs when they're out on the trail.

The kennels churn out puppies as fast as a factory manufactures bolts or screwdrivers. There is always
more stock coming in from breeding. Or, if a musher needs a better racer, it can be bought, borrowed
or leased.

The mushers running businesses that give kennel tours are entertainers or showmen. Make no mistake.
This is all a business. No love. Just business. The less money spent on the dogs, the more profit the
musher pockets.

'John' - December 5, 2006
Ref: http://dailynightly.msnbc.com/2006/12/living_like_the.html

Killing unwanted dogs doesn't bother mushers:

"Our philosophy and goal at the Alaska SPCA is prevention, not destruction. And what they're doing is
breeding and breeding and then they cull and cull and cull. And culling to the musher doesn't bother
them one bit. And they used to take them into Animal Control here and then also up in the Valley, but
they got such criticism so now they're doing their own killing. And it's not humane. Believe me it's not
humane."

Ethel Christensen, Executive Director of the Alaska SPCA
'Animal Voices' Radio Show - Toronto, Canada.
(Interview by Rob Moore on February 28, 2006)

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner article February 17, 2008 (Ex-Quest musher J.T. Hessert
charged with animal cruelty in Montana)

'Hessert charged with cruelty'

J.T. Hessert, who was withdrawn from the 2007 Yukon Quest primarily for not having a handler, was
charged Thursday with animal cruelty, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.

Hessert was charged with one count of felony aggravated animal cruelty and 33 misdemeanor counts
of animal cruelty after 33 sled dogs were found abandoned near West Yellowstone, Mont., without
food, water or shelter.

After a concerned citizen called animal control, a search warrant was signed and the dogs were seized
from the property, court records stated.

A veterinarian examined the dogs Feb. 2 and determined that the dogs were all “well below normal
health and had not been being fed enough food.”

One of the dogs had a collar embedded in its neck and other dogs had frostbite, according to court
records.

Hessert is expected to enter a plea in Gallatin County District Court at a later date.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/feb/17/dog-fight-raises-teams-momentum/?yukon_quest