Injuries, a Pregnant Dog Run to Death, Coverups, and Outright Lies: PETA Breaks Down 2025 Iditarod Horrors

For Immediate Release:
March 17, 2025

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Nome, Alaska –

Now that another deadly Iditarod is over and Jessie Holmes has been crowned the winner, PETA has tallied up the casualties from this year’s race as well as this data showing that more than 150 dogs have died in the Iditarod since it began. Photos are available here.

A four-year-old pregnant dog named Ventana died after musher Daniel Klein forced her to run over 300 miles. PETA is urging the Alaska State Troopers to launch a criminal investigation into her death, which we believe violates Alaska’s cruelty-to-animals statute and isn’t exempt from prosecution despite improper carve-outs for the dog sledding industry. Running a pregnant dog is also a violation of the Iditarod’s rules.

This year, Iditarod officials tried to conceal a medical emergency involving a dog named Jett, who was pulled from the race after being forced to run by Brenda Mackey. Jett collapsed on the trail and required emergency veterinary care—despite an Iditarod veterinarian having given her a clean bill of health the night before. When Mackey returned to a checkpoint with Jett being carried in the sled bag, the Iditarod livestream cut audio and panned away. Officials then published a news release claiming that “Mackey had 14 dogs in harness when she arrived in Tanana, all in good health”—a blatant falsehood that Mackey herself exposed as untrue on social media. The Iditarod later released another statement walking back its lie.

Also, a dog named Hank, who was used by musher Mille Porsild, reportedly fell through the ice into a freezing river and was dragged because Porsild did not halt the rest of the dogs. Musher Jeff Deeter noticed “some lameness” among the dogs pulling his sled but forced some of them to continue running despite it, so as to get himself to the next checkpoint. Deeter ultimately scratched, but not before several dogs endured a range of injuries, including one dog who suffered a partially torn Achilles tendon. Mushers can call for help at any time to avoid further suffering, but Deeter chose to force the dogs to run anyway.

Following backlash from mushers and fans concerned about dangerous trail conditions, officials moved the restart location from Willow to Fairbanks—after initially failing to take any action to protect the dogs from the dangers posed by the lack of snow. Mushers were apparently silenced on this issue, again highlighting the Iditarod’s use of gag rules to attempt to avoid criticism and conceal information that would be damaging to the race’s reputation (see Rule 53 here). The location change increased the length of the race to approximately 1,128 miles, the longest since 2009.

In addition to the added distance, dogs experienced grueling trail conditions and harsh weather—including a sandstorm that caused mushers to get lost. More than 180 dogs were pulled off the trail due to exhaustion, illness, injury, or other causes, forcing the remaining ones to work even harder to pull the mushers. And the misery is far from over for the dogs who survived the race—they’re being sent back to the barren yards where most will be chained to dilapidated wooden boxes or plastic barrels with just a few square feet in which to eat, sleep, and relieve themselves. Many of them will suffer from stomach ulcers and airway dysfunction similar to “ski asthma,” and more than 80% will likely sustain persistent lung damage.

Veteran Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey kept scores of dogs continuously chained to plastic barrels, at times with little to no dry straw. Some had run in circles for so long that their paw pads were worn down or raw and bleeding. Credit: PETA

“When a pregnant dog is run to her death and hundreds more dogs are doomed to lives of pain, sickness, and neglect, PETA has to ask what kind of people are still supporting such cruelty,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Every sponsor and spectator backing the Iditarod has blood on their hands, and PETA asks them to get out now.”

This year’s race was tied for the smallest field of mushers in history, indicating that the Iditarod is declining in popularity even among long-time participants. Alaska Airlines, Chrysler, Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, Jack Daniel’s, and Wells Fargo have all dropped their support for the race after hearing from PETA, which is calling on Alaskan Brewing Company and Providence to follow suit.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.