MARCH 14, 2024:
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — For the past five years, Alaska’s annual Iditarod sled dog race has gone off mostly free of controversy, as teams of dogs and their masters braved the elements in the 1,000-mile test of endurance across the frozen wilderness. This year the deaths of three dogs during the race — and five more during training — have refocused attention on the sport’s darker side. Questions are being raised anew about the ethics of asking animals to pull a heavy sled for hundreds of miles in subzero temperatures. Animal rights groups are calling for the race to end. The Iditarod pledges if there is anything to be done differently once they get the full necropsy reports back, they will apply those learnings.
MARCH 1, 2024:
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Iditarod, the annual sled dog race celebrating Alaska’s official state sport, is set to get underway Saturday (March 2, 2024) with a new focus on safety after five dogs died and eight were injured in collisions with snowmobiles while training. For the first time, mushers who line up for the ceremonial start in Anchorage will have the chance to snag light-up, neon harnesses or necklaces for their dogs before they begin the days-long race that takes the dog-and-human sled teams about 1,000 miles over Alaska’s unforgiving terrain. The race officially begins Sunday 75 miles outside Anchorage with 38 teams.
FEBRUARY 15, 2024:
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Both a Minnesota man testing a snowmobile for his employer in the Alaska backcountry and the company have been cited for reckless driving after the machine slammed into a sled dog team on a training run in December, killing three dogs.
The State of Alaska charged Erik Johnson, of Roseau, Minnesota, and Minnesota-based Polaris Inc. on Feb. 8 with the misdemeanor in the crash near the interior Alaska community of Cantwell, located about 210 miles (338 kilometers) north of Anchorage.
Emails sent to Polaris and Johnson were not immediately returned, nor was a message left on a cellphone believed to be Johnson’s.
A spokesperson for the Alaska attorney general’s office said in an email that Polaris was also cited since state law “contemplates legal accountability” when employees act within the scope of their employment on the company’s behalf.
Musher Mike Parker was training dogs on Dec. 11 along the Denali Highway, which is not maintained in the winter.
According to an affidavit from Alaska State Trooper Noah Belt, Parker was traveling westbound on the highway when he saw a group of snowmobiles coming at him. He said he began using his 1,000-lumen headlamp to make himself known.
One snowmobile passed him and flashed his lights at Parker. The second machine slammed into the front of Parker’s team, killing two dogs instantly and critically injuring two others. One of those later died.
The trooper interviewed Johnson, who said it was dark and blowing snow, which limited his visibility.
He said that shortly before the dog team was struck, he saw a faint light while traveling up to 50 mph (80 kph) but didn’t know what it was.
No court date has been set.
Last November, a snowmobile struck a sled dog team on a training run on the same highway. The team belonged to five-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Dallas Seavey, but he was not running the team at the time. Two dogs were killed in the accident, and seven others were injured. The driver was cited for negligent driving.
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