Condemnation is growing
Greg Cote, sports columnist for The Miami Herald, wrote about the Iditarod, “The bizarre competition involves
65 ‘mushers,’ drivers along for the ride
as their slaves—16 dog teams, at least at the
start—do the hard labor, at times encouraged by
their masters’ whips.” He calls the race
“a grotesque shame masquerading as sport”
and explains that the abuse of the dogs constitutes
a violation of cruelty-to-animals statutes across the
United States.
Former USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno, who referred to the Iditarod as “Ihurtadog,” called it an embarrassment, an outrage, and “a travesty of grueling proportions.” In an article published during the 2001 race, Saraceno wrote, “It’s really shameful marketing carried out on the backs of defenseless animals.” He also stated, “Injury and death are Iditarod partners.”
Fox sportscaster Jim Rome termed the Iditarod the
“I-killed-a-dog sled race” and pointed out
in an article following the completion of a
race that two dogs died during the race and several
others were removed from the race because of injuries,
including a group of dogs who had been mangled by a
snow-making machine.
George Diaz, sports columnist for the Orlando Sentinel,
said of the Iditarod in a March 2000 article, “Although
the fluff coverage in the Anchorage Daily News promotes the Iditarod as ‘Alaska’s great
race,’ it is nothing more than a barbaric ritual
that gives Alaskan cowboys a license to kill.”
In an article entitled “Iditarod’s Bone
of Contention Repels Some Marketers,” Bruce Horowitz
of USA Today called the Iditarod a “public
relations minefield.”
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