Mar12
Iditarod Musher Reports Missing Dog
Posted at 05:17 PM | Permalink
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Comments (19)
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Sometimes it breaks our hearts to say, "We told you so." It's less than a week into the 1,150-mile-long doggie death march known as the Iditarod, and abuser musher Justin Savidis has already reported one of his dogs, 3-year-old Whitey, missing.
Whitey has been loose since Wednesday, and although he's been spotted on a number of occasions, temperatures along the Iditarod course remain below zero, and there is no guarantee that Whitey will find shelter or food.
Even if Whitey survives his escape, when you consider the dark history of the bloody race, his future still looks pretty grim. On average, dogs in the Iditarod run at least 100 miles each day with very brief rests, and only half the dogs who begin the race ever make it to the finish line. Many are injured or killed as a result of the physical torment of the Iditarod—some of them fall through the ice or suffer from bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and viruses, while others are strangled by tow lines, trampled by moose, or hit by snowmobiles and sleds. Whitey's disappearance marks the beginning of this year's sub-zero suffering, but it's not too late to end it: Urge the Iditarod's sponsors to back out of the barbaric competition immediately.
Posted by Logan Scherer
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Comments
i don't think enough bad things can be said about this foolish and inhumane display of macho arrogance and dark-ages cruelty.
Posted by: ocean17 | March 12, 2010 06:21 PM
This is very sad but not at all surprising. It is ridiculous that this is even considered a sport when the dogs are the only athletes involved.The same thing goes for dog racing and horse racing. I work at an animal shelter and because very few if any well organized shelters exist up north we get many husky-type dogs.It is not uncommon to hear of "weak" or "unsuitable" husky puppies being left to die on the ice that they were born on.We have picked up escaped dogs ravenously gorging on deer at the side of the highway. The dogs are kept in tiny cages and given no affection by their handlers.Some are not even named by their humans.You can guess what happens to old or injured dogs.These "athletes" are not fond of vet visits. I was even more ashamed of my country when a large group of sled dogs were (thankfully) found and rescued in Quebec. People need to stop visiting sled dog parks in Alberta around Banff and other tourist areas.
Posted by: Anna | March 12, 2010 07:45 PM
The official beginning of the death toll.
Posted by: Aneliese | March 12, 2010 09:47 PM
this makes me sad
Posted by: T | March 12, 2010 11:15 PM
These dogs are really beautiful. They don't deserve to be exploited this way. Greed sure is ugly.
Posted by: carol tuskan | March 13, 2010 12:37 AM
How many more dogs are to die before this sport is stopped.
Posted by: lisa | March 13, 2010 01:11 PM
T, i second that, how much suffering could be avoided if it weren't for human greed and selfishness! my heart & prayers goes out to all these animals. i mean, we have a husky dog, she is just a big baby. i would not in my wildest dreams subject her to that kind of treatment.
Posted by: rachelle | March 14, 2010 01:20 PM
I'm probably not the only one thinking it should be called IDIOTrod. Right?
Posted by: Samantha | March 14, 2010 08:46 PM
This is disgusting. I went on the Iditarod official site and they had photos of dogs giving urine samples- so does that mean there pumping these poor dogs with drugs too???! And there was the most heart breaking photo of a 'dropped dog' - i found out that means a dog that is to sick or tired to continuing running or worse case scenario is dead. This race is horrid.
Posted by: Mandy | March 15, 2010 01:32 AM
what Samantha said. this race is sickening and an unbelievably cruel bloodsport.
Posted by: ocean17 | March 15, 2010 02:58 PM
Agreed! How is this a sport when the dogs are doing all of the work? It's horribly cruel. Leave the dogs alone, and change the race to snowmobiles or something.
Posted by: Kim | March 15, 2010 03:31 PM
THis is cruelty to the max. The dosg love and trust us and do their best for us.. In return these inhuman beasts ( the mushers) who rea heartless and cruel cause them to die. I'm not a cruel person , far from it..by I'm sick of so much cruelty in the world and we wonder why the next generation is so immune to any compassionate feelings for life.
Posted by: MM | March 15, 2010 11:24 PM
It's quite sad that this is a form of animal cruelty, yet no one see this.
They see it as a sport..
Posted by: Rad_Rosa89 | March 16, 2010 01:22 AM
The Iditarod is very cruel - to run a dog to exhaustion is akin to a blood sport. Why don't the owners race on foot or are they too unfit and scared?
Posted by: Priscilla Shaw-Phillips | March 16, 2010 07:47 AM
I absolutely detest this so-called event and am sickened by it more and more each year. But I wanted to bring you all good news: Whitey was found!! The link above to the race blog has a post saying he was ok. I really hope that is the truth.
But clearly, this has got to stop!!!
Posted by: Anne | March 17, 2010 01:46 AM
When oh when will man (kind???) wake up??????? It's all about greed, money and their huge damn egos. Sick. Leave the animals alone already. I am so tired of humans using and abusing every single animal that they can get their slimy little finters on. The humans race is in for a brutal awakening!!!!!!!
Posted by: Carla | March 17, 2010 11:22 AM
i TOTALLY agree with you, even though husky's love to run, they should NOT have to be forced to run whilst pulling anything, Whitey probably ran away because he had enough of the stupid event
Posted by: Kiara | March 18, 2010 06:03 AM
The following text is an extract taken from a website of one of the mushers who ran the 2010 Iditarod - it speaks for itself.
His team had less than 70 miles to go..but his dogs were very weak and he had less than half his team left.John had gone into this race and made it very clear he was not there to make up the numbers...he was racing for rookie award.His racing mate Tom Thurston scrathed early on the trail due to sickness in his team..soon johns dogs started falling sick causing john to start dropping dogs..at White Mt john + vets called it a day..
Posted by: Ex-Musher | March 27, 2010 10:18 PM
So sad ;(
Posted by: Sad day | April 21, 2010 03:03 AM