For Immediate Release:
February 12, 2019
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Fairbanks, Alaska – Below, please find a statement from PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien in response to reports that a dog owned by Iditarod veteran Misha Wiljes died while racing in the Yukon Quest:
Yet another dog has died in the name of greed, his body discarded at a checkpoint as his musher hops back on the trail to vie for a prize. Dogs will continue to die as long as they’re forced to race through the ice and snow at grueling speeds along the 1,000-mile Iditarod and Yukon Quest trails, and PETA is calling for an end to these long-distance death traps before they claim any more victims.
PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” and more information about our campaign against dogsled racing is available on PETA’s website.
