UPDATE: The 2008 Iditarod canine death toll has already begun. Zaster, a 7-year-old male, died of pneumonia on March 8. The next day, a 3-year-old female dog named Lorne was killed and a 2-year-old male named Aries was badly injured when a snowmachine traveling at 40 miles per hour ran into one of the dog teams on the Yukon River. On March 11, a 4-year-old male dog named Cargo died. At least five mushers have quit the race because their dogs were ill and suffering. In addition, two dogs were abandoned by their musher when they left the team and she was unable to locate them. The Iditarod is a terrible event that causes suffering and death. Please urge the World Wildlife Fund to discontinue its association with this despicable race.

The 2007 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is over, but the horrors are sure to continue for the dogs who are used by the cruel and abusive dogsledding industry.

This year’s race took place during some of the worst weather conditions possible, including 60 to 80 mph winds, whiteouts, and temperatures as low as -30°F. Three dogs perished, and one went missing for 11 days. Snickers, a 6½-year-old female, died of acute hemorrhaging after a gastric ulcer began bleeding. Thong, a 3-year-old male, died of acute pneumonia. Musher Ramy Brooks was disqualified from the race following reports that he beat all 10 of his dogs when they hit an icy patch and wouldn’t keep moving. The day after this incident, Kate, one of Brooks’ dogs, died of “unknown causes.” This year’s three dead dogs join the growing list of at least 130 animals who have suffered and died on the Iditarod trails since records of the race started being kept.

Hundreds of dogs are exploited and abused every year in the Iditarod, a grueling trek of more than 1,000 miles. Today’s event lacks the purpose of the original Iditarod, which was a race along a mail route to deliver an emergency supply of diphtheria serum to Nome. Now the participants—almost none of whom are indigenous Alaskans—are motivated solely by the cash prize, and they will do almost anything to get it.

Typically, dogs in the Iditarod are forced to run an average of 125 grueling miles per day with little rest. They are subjected to biting winds, blinding snowstorms, and subzero temperatures, and they are frequently in danger of falling through ice into frigid waters. Their feet become bruised, bloodied, and cut. Many dogs pull muscles, incur stress fractures, or become sick with diarrhea, dehydration, or intestinal viruses. In January 2005, the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published an assessment showing that 61 percent of the sled dogs studied exhibited an increased frequency of gastric erosions or ulcers after completing the Iditarod; none of the dogs studied had exhibited these symptoms before the race.

In addition to being subjected to the obvious cruelty of the race itself, dogs used in the Iditarod also pay a terrible price behind the scenes. Not every puppy born is a fast runner, and those who do not make the grade are usually killed—sometimes by bludgeoning—for not possessing monumental stamina and speed. Mushers freely admit that dogs who do not measure up are killed, and one musher equates it with “weeding a garden.” Almost invariably, those dogs who survive the cull spend their lives in cramped, substandard kennels that are rarely—or never—inspected by any regulatory agency. Many kennel operators keep dogs tethered on short ropes or chains or confine them to tiny spaces.

It is important for Iditarod sponsors to know that they are supporting the mistreatment and death of dogs when they lend their names and money to the race. Please help us make sure that the incidents that took place this winter remain in the sponsors’ minds throughout the year. Ask the sponsors to sever all their associations with the Iditarod—and all other dog sled races—and sponsor humane alternatives, such as Lowell’s National Human Dog Sled Race Championship, instead.

Please send polite comments to:

Richard Kovacevich, CEO
Wells Fargo & Co.
420 Montgomery St.
San Francisco, CA 94163
1-800-869-3557
415-677-9075 (fax)
investorrelations@wellsfargo.com

Thomas LaSorda, CEO
Chrysler Group
DaimlerChrysler Corp.
1000 Chrysler Dr.
Auburn Hills, MI 48326-2766
248-576-5741
248-512-9368 (fax)

David O’Reilly, CEO
Chevron Corp.
6001 Bollinger Canyon Rd.
San Ramon, CA 94583
925-842-1000
925-842-3530 (fax)
comment@chevrontexaco.com

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