Sled dog is missing after Iditarod crash; no clear cause of death for dog that died this week

Less than a week after the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race began, first-time competitor Nancy Yoshida wrecked her sled when one or both of its runners apparently came off.  One of her 16 dogs, a 5-year-old named Nigel, got loose and his whereabouts are still unknown, although search teams remain hopeful he will be found.  The Minnesota Star-Tribune reports:

"We have aircraft up there now," [race spokesman Chas St. George] said. "Everyone has their eyes on the trail."

Recent heavy snows will make the search a bit easier, he said. "We just got hammered," he said. "We have feet and feet and feet of it. Up to three stories high in some places."

And that means Nigel will stay on the packed trail, St. George said.

"We've had great success" finding lost dogs in the past, he said. While the searchers "would never put their lives in jeopardy ... we're going to continue to search until we find this dog."

Nigel hasn't been seen since Tuesday.  Meanwhile, a necropsy on a member of musher Jeff Holt's dogsled team who died this week during competition revealed no obvious cause of death.  The Anchorage Daily News has the details:

Further tests are under way, officials said today. Veterinarians say it is not unusual for a gross necropsy to fail to determine the cause of death. They note dogs die across the country every day due to unexplained heart arrhythmias and other reasons.

The Iditarod screens all the sled dogs for unseen heart irregularities prior to the race, but problems are not always detectable.

A study of 23 dogs that died in the race between 1994 and 2006 found that though 16 of the deaths were eventually explained after extensive study, the reasons for seven of the deaths were never determined.

The grueling nature of the Iditarod has led many to wonder whether it constitutes humane treatment of its canine competitors, who after all aren't given a choice to compete or not.

The San Francisco Gate notes:

Iditarod administrators have typically promoted the race as a commemoration of sled dogs being used to save the children of Nome by bringing diphtheria serum from Anchorage in 1925. However, the co-founder of the Iditarod, Dorothy Page, says 600 miles of this serum run was actually done by train and the other half was done by dogs running in relays, with no dog ever running more than 100 miles at a stretch.

Although there is no official count of dog deaths available for the race's early years, at least 137 dogs are known to have died in the Iditarod...

The Humane Society of the United States is one prominent animal organization that's come out against the race.  A statement released last year said the group "opposes the Iditarod in its current form — or any other mushing event in which heavy emphasis is placed on competition and entertainment and in which dog deaths and injuries are regular consequences. The HSUS is not opposed to noncompetitive mushing or competitive mushing events in which the welfare of dogs is not sacrificed for the sake of entertainment."

A few commenters on a recent post about the race seemed to agree with the HSUS, taking issue with the sheer magnitude of the race.  "There's no doubt that the dogs enjoy running and pleasing their masters. But I think these dogs can get the same enjoyment out of regular 20-30 mile races," JMG wrote.  And A chimed in, "Surely they could devise something that involves running the dogs less drastic lengths over safer territory.  We value the dogs' lives more now than when this race began."

What do you think -- is the Iditarod fine as it is, or is it in need of a rehaul?  Should it be done away with entirely?  Are the losses of a few dogs among the hundreds competing each year acceptable odds?  If the dogs "live for racing," should we just leave well enough alone?

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: A musher drives his team near the Takotna, Alaska checkpoint.  Credit: Al Grillo / Associated Press

Comments

[Kate]

Why doesn't touch-feely goo-goo San Francisco sod off and mind its own business? I doubt any of the prissy do-good busybody SFC staff have ever been NEAR a sled dog kennel let alone worked with those type of dogs or of having any idea of the extensive training and conditioning and feeding programs and vet care they delpoy to care for the animals. They certainly don't know that at every checkpoint the dogs are examined by a vet to see if they can continue.

Quite simply one can not make an animal perform if they are tired or ill. They simply refuse and slow or stop. The animals have more sense than humans who will keep going in that marathon or whatever because they want a prize. Animals didn't get the memo or read the book about 'winning' or 'prizes.' They simply do what they enjoy doing and stop when they have had enough.

Things happen. We had a 7 year old dog suddenly collapse and die within 30 minutes even though rushed into the vet - and he had been to the vet in the middle of night before because he appeared ill and it seemed to be a gastro-intestinal bug. It wasn't. It was an asympotamtic tumor which had ruptured and that couldn't be detected without an ultrsound (not normal equipment in a vet practice) and he couldn't have been saved even if we had , by soome miracle, found it as is was too huge and had probably been growing for years. Yet the day before he was racing on the beach and covered 5 miles.........

People die running marathons - and have died in marathons from undetected heart problems - so lets get rid of those.

People die in accidents with All Terrain Vehicles - ATVS - so lets ban those.

People die surfing. Lets ban that.

People die swimming at the beach. Lets ban that.

Animals have more sense than people - they stop when they are tired or the task is beyond them.

Frankly the over-wrought psycho-babble self-righteous interfering nanny-state sensiblities of California have reached the point of being too much for the rest of the US to swallow.

California with its 'ban this', 'ban that', 'throw people out of the only housing they can afford in a town if they smoke', 'demand that foods be banned', 'demand that everyone else agree with their minority views on about everything' , 'demand that cars be a certain way' , demand that more and moee and more ridiculous safety rules be passed about everything including buttons' and all the other endless demands that the world be made safe by wrapping everyone and everything in cotton wool is over the top. Californians seem to have opinions and demands about everything - and particularly about things which they know nothing about and have no experience with!

California can't even manage its own affairs - pollution, over-crowding, illegal immigrants, crime, poverty, decaying schools and rising illiteracy, homelessness, and all the rest - so just shut up and quit telling everyone else what to do.

[William McMullin]

The Iditarod is a dog sled race held in Alaska every year. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run while pulling sleds 1,150 miles. Over 137 dogs have died in this race. Most of the survivors have lung damage by the end of the race. It is common for mushers to beat their dogs. Just a few sponsors of this cruelty include Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, and Exxon Mobil, according to www.helpsleddogs.org. If you or I treated our dogs like this in our back yards, we would be arrested and prosecuted. Yet, nothing happens to the mushers and the sponsors.

[Cyrene G.]

Kate, you said: "I doubt any of the prissy do-good busybody SFC staff have ever been NEAR a sled dog kennel let alone worked with those type of dogs or of having any idea of the extensive training and conditioning and feeding programs and vet care they delpoy to care for the animals."

Hmm, I think I've heard of this argument before...

"Quite simply one can not make an animal perform if they are tired or ill. They simply refuse and slow or stop. The animals have more sense than humans who will keep going in that marathon or whatever because they want a prize. Animals didn't get the memo or read the book about 'winning' or 'prizes.' They simply do what they enjoy doing and stop when they have had enough."

Kate, can I introduce you to a "sport" called dog fighting? The people that fight dogs say that their dogs enjoy fighting and that they're bred for the purpose and live (and die) for it. You say animals will quit when when they're ill or tired, but dogs will fight to their death, even as they are bloody and mangled.

Dogs don't go on a 1500 mile race for fun. They don't know what it means to win or be first or second or thirteenth. They do it because they are pushed by their owner. Do you think they really have a choice?

People who participate in dangerous sports do so by CHOICE. Are you really seriously comparing a human person's free will to engage in dangerous activity to a dog being strapped to a sled and "mushed" across the frozen tundra??

[sarah]

I completely agree with Cyrene and William. Kate, I think if you took the time to look into the issue further you would agree with them too.

[L Gomez]

The Iditarod is a dog sled race held in Alaska every year. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run while pulling sleds 1,150 miles. Over 137 dogs have died in this race. Most of the survivors have lung damage by the end of the race.
(REALLY? IS THIS WHY THE SAME DOGS RUN THE RACE YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR?)
It is common for mushers to beat their dogs.
(MUSHERS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO HIT THEIR DOGS. AN INCIDENT HAPPENED WITHIN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS WHEN A MUSHER WAS FORCED TO WITHDRAW BY RACE OFFICIALS WHEN HE HIT HIS DOG. IDITAROD IS VERY STRICT ON ANIMAL TREATMENT)
Just a few sponsors of this cruelty include Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, and Exxon Mobil, according to www.helpsleddogs.org. If you or I treated our dogs like this in our back yards, we would be arrested and prosecuted. Yet, nothing happens to the mushers and the sponsors.

[L Gomez]

Nigel, the sled dog who was missing last week, was found safe and sound when he returned to a checkpoint last Friday. For details visit www.iditarod.com and check the news & press releases page.

[Faith]

I AGREE WITH KATE!!! I AM INVOLVED WITH THE RACES AND MOST KENNELS TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OF THE DOGS AND THE DOGS LOVES TO RUN. THERE ARE OTHER ANIMAL SPORTS WHICH DOGS GET INJURED OR
DIE....AGILITY, FLYBALL, HERDING AND EVEN PET DOGS DIE TRAGICALLY.

THERE MIGHT BE MUSHERS WHO ARE NOT GOOD AND GIVE THE SPORT A BAD REPUTATION, BUT YOU HAVE THAT WITH EVERYTHING. THINK OF ALL THE REPUTATIONS AND STEREOTYPES- WOMAN ARE BAD DRIVERS, BLONDES ARE STUPID, CALIFORNIAINS ARE SNOBS.... (I GOOGLED THE REPUATION OF CALIFORNIANS AND THAT'S WHAT I GOT )

I WAS AN ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER AND MORE PET DOGS DIE IN ONE YEAR FROM ABUSE AND NEGLECT IN THE COUNTY I WORKED IN, THEN ALL THE DOGS WHO DIED IN THE IITAROD SINCE IT STARTED.

OVER 2000 DOGS DIES IN KATRINA, WHICH ONE WAS A SCEARH AND RESCUE DOG. WHY DID THEY DIE? A LOT OF IT WAS BECAUSE WHEN PEOPLE WE EVACUATED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE GOVERNMENT AND OTHER AGENCIES THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO BRING THEIR PET. THE SAME GOVENMENT THAT SOME WANT TO MAKE THE LAWS OF WHAT
WECAN AND CAN'T DO WITH OUR DOGS?

Dogs don't go on a 1500 mile race for fun. They don't know what it means to win or be first or second or thirteenth. They do it because they are pushed by their owner. Do you think they really have a choice?
ACTUALLY THEY DO QUIT WHEN THEY ARE TIRED.A FRIEND OF MINE WAS IN FIRST PLACE AND THE TEAM GOT TIRED AND LAYED DOWN A FEW MILES BEFORE THE END OF THE RACE. SO THE DOGS WERE LOADED IN THE TRUCK AND HE LOST.

DON'T POST A COMMENT UNLESS YOU ARE EDUCATED IN THE TOPIC.

CYRENE, WILLIAM, ANS SARAH, HAVE YOU EVER SPENT TIME WITH A MUSHER OR HIS DOGS??