Mar15
First Dog Dies in the Iditarod
Posted at 03:29 PM | Permalink
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Comments (8)
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Well, the first dog has died in this year’s Iditarod. Frankly, I’m surprised it took this long, and I’m sad to say it's extremely likely there’ll be more. Turns out that forcing dogs to run 125 miles a day through subzero temperatures may not be all that good for them. Shocker. Obviously, this is common sense to those of us who act like we’re living in the year 2007, but apparently the Iditarod folks like to pretend they’re paying homage to the original race, which was along a mail route to deliver an emergency supply of diphtheria serum (whatever that is) to Nome.
Anyway, Iditaroders, next time you guys need some diphtheria serum delivered, I’m sure FedEx will be glad to help you out with that. And let’s be real here, this race is about money, plain and simple—you’re not preserving heritage or paying homage to anyone by running a few hundred dogs into the frozen ground every year.
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The upshot here is that there are countless alternatives to this cruel tradition. How about a ski race along the same route—the Iskidarod maybe? Or an eBay sponsored marathon auction—the Ibidarod? The world’s largest game of hide and seek—Ihidarod. A marathon film festival—Ividarod? There actually is an event in California called the Ikidarod, where kids pull sleds on a beach, and the reality is that there really are 1001 ways for the Iditarod folks to line their pockets without hurting dogs.
Anyway, here’s to hoping that no more dogs die this year . . . Oh, and if you’re so inclined you can let the Iditarod sponsors know you feel about this absurd race here.
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Comments
I only wish I would still be alive when humankind finally realizes how awful people have been treating animals, when people will say, "I can't believe people used to kill animals for fur or leather and that people used to abuse animals in events like rodeos and the Iditarod!", just like people nowadays can't believe that slavery ever existed.
Posted by: Michele | March 15, 2007 10:19 PM
What kind of corporations would support people who kill dogs?
Well Panasonic is one
Posted by: kelly | March 15, 2007 11:37 PM
If anyone would like to fax a letter to Wells fargo the fax number is 877-284-4083 I just sent one and advised all friends to do the same!
SHAME ON YOU WELLS FARGO
Posted by: Cyndi Smith | March 16, 2007 01:16 PM
I don't know about this race but my aunt has huskies in Minnesota and they do dogsleding with them. The dogs love doing it though. Everytime they get ready to go out the dogs start jumping up and down and getting all excited. They will take them out for a while and when they come back, the dogs want to go out again they don't want to stop. I don't know what it is like for those dogs to run all day but as far as I can tell they enjoy it. The retired dogs you can tell miss it because they get all excited to when they see them coming in with the harnesses but then get upset and whine when they see the some of the others dogs going. They don't race for money or anything it's for fun for both dog and rider. The people in that race just take it overboard I mean even humans can injure or kill themselves doing something they love.
Posted by: Shirlena Pugh | March 16, 2007 06:05 PM
I've got another Iditarod-alternative as stated.
--TURN AWAY NOW IF YOU'RE NOT A STITCH FANATIC--
Being a Lilo&Stitch fanatic, there should be a gathering where several L&S fanatics test themselves on how well they know Stitch and other alien experiments...
Possibly the "I-STITCH-arod!"
Posted by: RabidLeroy | March 17, 2007 12:40 AM
If you were God, which problem would you fix first?
Posted by: Marsha Williams | March 18, 2007 12:16 PM
RabidLeroy:
I would fix all the problems at once.
Because I would be able to do that, if I were God.
But because I'm not God,
I try and fight for the causes that I believe to be important to me.
Fighting for animals is just one of 'many' important issues for me.
There are so many causes to consider that are extremely important!
They all need to be addressed everyday - all the time.
Posted by: Lauran | March 19, 2007 12:18 PM
I'm with Lauran. Even God can't help all the time. It's up to humans to help the innocents, the sentient beings who are at our mercy. How can we treat the creatures that we share this planet with in such terrible ways? My cat has a sense of humor and affection that is more intense than some humans I know.
If you treat our "relatives" as feeling, loving beings, we will be the better for it. We, after all, are life forms on this planet, and expect to be treated with respect.
Gracie
Posted by: Gracie | March 19, 2007 10:56 PM