March 18, 2007

• Rule 42

  In memory of Snickers, Thong, and Kate….

  Iditarod Trail Committee Rule # 42 states:

  “Any dog that expires on the trail must be taken by the musher to a checkpoint. The musher may transport the dog to either the checkpoint just passed, or the upcoming checkpoint. An expired dog report must be completed by the musher and presented to a race official along with the dog.

  “All dog deaths will be treated as a priority, with every effort being made to determine the cause of death in a thorough and reliable manner.

  “The race marshal or his/her appointed judges will determine whether the musher should continue or be disqualified.”

  
  Photo:  Karen Ramstead’s team in 2005, photographer’s name unknown, source: Google.

  This year there have been three dog deaths during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.  That’s about average, and the dog deaths are one of the reasons many people are opposed to the race altogether.

  Some of you who have left comments here have mentioned how little race coverage you see in mainstream media Outside (that’s what we in Alaska call the rest of the world, which might give you some insight into our mindset).  Greyfox told me that people on his forums at totse and ParadoxSector also mentioned that they found Iditarod coverage sparse and spotty.  If this event is such a big deal, some wonder, why isn’t it more widely covered?  I have a theory about that.

  This race is not politically correct.  Mushers have been reviled and harrassed.  Businesses that have sponsored teams have been boycotted through the efforts of PETA and the Humane Society.  I don’t suppose it’s too great a stretch to imagine that TV networks might get negative feedback for covering the race.  Many people want the Iditarod to just go away, and if they can’t make that happen they will throw their monkey wrenches into any gears they can reach.

  I don’t condone killing dogs, nor do I condemn any musher who has a dog die in harness.  I’m not condoning or condemning those who criticize and condemn the mushers and the Trail Committee, either, although I sometimes have to work at not responding to ignorance and hatred with hatred and contempt.  I try not to judge anyone at all, and I wouldn’t be a trail judge for anything in the world.   Right now, I’m filled with confusion and unease over one of this year’s dog deaths and its aftermath, and I’ll go into that later, but first:

  Snickers, a five year old female leader in Karen Ramstead’s team, died at the Grayling checkpoint of an apparent bleeding ulcer.  A team of four veterinarians performed surgery to try and save Snickers.  In Ms. Ramstead’s words, they:

  “…worked for hours on her. The lengths they went to in the middle of the wilds of Alaska were simply amazing and included a dog to dog blood transfusion off of her brother, Crunchie (who was so cooperative and calm it was spooky).  I know that everything possible was done to try and save our little lead dog – and we will forever be grateful for that.

  “I was also very touched by the compassion and genuine sympathy from the Iditarod volunteers and the residents of Grayling. They made a horrible time somewhat more bearable. And warm thanks to fellow mushers Cindy Gallea and Bryan Mills. Cindy graciously offered her skills to help hold off veins during Snickers transfusion – and Bryan Mills, in a move so kind it makes my heart ache, offered to travel to Nome with me should I decide to stay in the Race, so I wouldn’t have to be alone.

  “That’s one of the things about Iditarod, it often strips you bare and shows you for what you really are – and in the case of the folks in Grayling it showed what remarkable people they all really are.”

  northwapiti.com

  Karen Ramstead’s dogs are unusual for the Iditarod in that they are pedigreed Siberian huskies.  In the off-season, they are show dogs.  The “breed” of dogs most Alaskans refer to as “huskies” and some people call simply Alaskan sled dogs, is not a recognized breed at all, but is a vigorous hybrid carrying genetic material from many domestic breeds and even some wild wolf ancestry.  Most Iditarod teams are motley collections of mutts.  Karen’s team is arguably the most beautiful in the race.  When Snickers died, she chose to scratch at Grayling and go home, rather than continue in the race this year.

  On Wednesday, between the checkpoints of Koyuk and Elim, Thong, a three-year-old male in Matt Hayashida’s team, died.  A gross necropsy determined that the apparent cause of death was pneumonia.  Histopathology and microbiologic cultures are being performed to try and further understand what happened to Thong.  Race Marshal Mark Nordman reviewed Thong’s death and allowed Hayashida to continue.  His team, reduced to 8 dogs by the time they reached Nome, finished in 29th place, with a time of 11 days 1 hour 58 minutes 46 seconds.

  I was online watching the GCI Nomecam Wednesday night, wondering what had happened to Ramy Brooks because his checkout time from Safety in the standings showed that he should have gotten to Nome in eleventh place several hours before Cim Smyth or Robert Sorlie, but Smyth, Sorlie, Aaron Burmeister, and Jason Barron all showed up in the standings as finishers before Ramy came up on the board in fifteenth place.

  News about the death of Ramy’s dog Kate seemed to dribble out as if nobody was really sure where or when it occurred or exactly what happened.  For several days, Ramy held fifteenth place in the standings, and today’s Anchorage Daily News reported that he had been bumped from eleventh place, where he actually finished between Tollef Monson and Cim Smyth, to fifteenth place, because of questionable actions after the death of a dog.

  Here, according to Nordman, is what happened at Safety:

  Brooks had a dog named Kate drop inexplicably on the trail between White Mountain and Safety. He tried to revive the dog but couldn’t. Inevitably, he was left with no choice but to load her in the basket of his sled and continue. Veterinarians still don’t know why that dog died. Tests are continuing.

  Brooks reached the next checkpoint with the dog in the basket of his sled.

  He told the veterinarian about the dead dog, and he told both the veterinarian and the checker staffing the checkpoint he wanted to scratch.

  The vet advised against that. The volunteers at the checkpoint didn’t want to have to handle a whole team of dropped dogs, and the vet saw nothing to indicate anything was wrong with any other dog in Brooks’ team.

  In fact, Brooks’ remaining dogs were standing up, barking, lunging against their harnesses and wanting to get back on the trail.

  Because the Safety checkpoint is only about 20 miles from Nome, there were also a lot of spectators standing around watching. The vet really didn’t want to unload a dead dog from the sled in front of that crowd, Nordman said.

  So, the volunteers at the checkpoint told Brooks to go to Nome. He did. Afterward, the vets called Nordman to tell him what had happened.

  According to friends, Brooks was tired and distraught and not in any position to be thinking clearly about the nuances of the rules in such a situation. Brooks was still in Nome on Saturday and could not be reached for comment.

  Brooks continued down the trail from Safety as the checkpoint volunteers told him to do and became the 11th musher to pass under the burled arch that marks the finish line on Front Street in Nome. Nordman was there to meet him.

  He quickly explained to the musher that though he had crossed the finish line in Nome, he was going to be treated as if his team was still in Safety until an investigation of the dog death could be completed. Brooks was led away to meet with Iditarod officials.

  He filled out the dead dog report as required. He sat through interviews. Veterinarians completed a gross necropsy on the dog and determined that not only was Brooks not responsible for its death, but there wasn’t anything he could have done to prevent it. The vets themselves aren’t sure why the dog died. They are continuing efforts to find out.

  By the time the paperwork, the interviews and the necropsy were done, almost six hours had passed since Brooks left Safety. In the meantime, four other teams had crossed the finish line.

  At that point, Nordman said, he closed the book on the dead-dog procedures stipulated in Rule 42 and declared Brooks an official Iditarod finisher.

  By then, however, Brooks had dropped from 11th to 15th in the standings.

  Though the Iditarod issued a statement making it clear Brooks was not being blamed or penalized for the death of the dog, his drop in the finishing order cost him $8,000 — the difference in prize money between an 11th place finish ($25,000) and a 15th place finish ($17,000).

  adn.com

  Ramy’s website reports that he was:

  …absolutely devastated over the loss of Kate. As his wife Cathy relayed the story, Ramy and his team were travelling from White Mountain to Safety. A very strong, cold wind blasted them and the hair on the back of the neck of each dog stood on end. Kate just dropped to the ground. Ramy attempted CPR, but she was just gone and could not be revived.

  The ITC performed a necropsy and a cause of death could not be determined. Ramy was assigned an official finishing time after that was complete. The text of the ITC release follows…

  Kate Necropsy
  by staff

  DATE: March 14, 2007

  TO: Race Officials, Race Veterinarians, Media, Volunteers

  FROM: Mark Nordman, Race Marshal

  A gross necropsy was performed on Kate, a three year old female in the team of Ramy Brooks that died earlier today. The results were inconclusive as to the cause of death.

  Now that this information gathering process is complete I have assigned an official finishing time which will reflect Ramy finishing in fifteenth position.

  Further studies including histopathology and cultures will be conducted.

  ramybrooks.com

  That was then.  Today, the official standings show Hans Gatt in fifteenth place and Ramy Brooks as “disqualified”.  It has yet to make it into the media as far as I could tell, but I found this news release from Mark Nordman at iditarod.com:

  A 3 member panel of race judges, convened today, March 17, in Nome Alaska, disqualified Ramy Brooks from the 2007 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

  Witnesses in Golovin provided information to race officials detailing abusive actions by Brooks to his dog team.  Brooks acknowledged “spanking” the dogs in his team with trail marking lathe.  The judges voted unanimously to disqualify Brooks from the 2007 Iditarod.

  Based upon the information presented to me, including the results from the gross necropsy, I have no reason to believe that there is a correlation between this incident and the death of Kate, the 3 year old female on Ramy’s team which died on the trail between White Mountain and Safety.

  Oh, well, I can’t think of anything to say about that except this:  What was he thinking?  Was he thinking?

  People’s feelings about just about anything are conditioned by their beliefs.  I don’t want to get into any discussions on the relative merits of any particular beliefs.  Just as I am working to transcend judgment, I am working to transcend belief.  I don’t mind discussing belief generally.  Generally, I believe that the less we believe, the better off we are.  I’d rather go with what I know and not try to make uninformed judgments about the mysteries of life.

  I don’t know if dogs can understand their mortality.  It seems that they don’t grasp the idea that some beloved human or other member of their adopted pack won’t ever come back.  A dog will go on waiting every day by the door for the sound of someone’s car in the driveway, long after that person has died.  A few dogs have become known to history because of such death-defying loyalty.  They persisted in meeting a certain train or ferry boat long after the death of the person who had once traveled on that boat or train.

  Even if dogs could understand death, I don’t know whether they would choose the relatively safe life of a kennel over the life of adventure and shared excitement that they have as part of an Iditarod team out on the trail.  I do know that virtually all of those dogs bred for the Iditarod would never have been born were it not for that race.  My vet, who is in a position to know, tells me that active dogs are healthier than sedentary dogs in general.  People who train working dogs have told me that those dogs are happier as a result of their work.

  One other thing I know is that whether or not dogs possess immortal souls, I see a lot more soul or soulfulness in my dog’s eyes than I see in those of a lot of people I know.  I know that if God is Love, then most dogs are a lot more godly than most human beings.  I also know that huskies love to run and they will joyously run with their pack until they can’t run any more, so they have to be carefully monitored by their drivers, handlers and vets to keep them from running themselves to death.

  I know that every musher I have ever known and every official, staff member and volunteer of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will do everything in their power to ensure the health and safety of every dog in every team.  There is a lot more effort put into the dogs’ well-being than into that of the mushers or trail staff and volunteers.  There are probably exceptions, but the ones I  have known have all put the dogs’ well-being ahead of their own.  The race rules do the same thing. 

  Most years, about two or three dogs die on the trail.  Any year without dog deaths is a year that we all rejoice.  The day that the first musher dies on the trail, there will be rejoicing among some of those people who think this race is wrong and who like to call it the “Ihurtadog.”  I don’t think in terms of right and wrong.  I’ll just say that to me that attitude seems unevolved.
  

  • 5:56 pm
  • 12 Comments