March 15, 2008
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Footprints – Hoofprints – Pawprints
Ever since I was on Xanga yesterday, I have been thinking about the partnership between people and domestic animals, particularly dogs and horses. That train of thought got started after I backtracked one of the Xanga Footprints I found and it took me to a site where someone said how glad he was that the horrible cruel Iditarod was over for this year, “poor puppies.”
Of course, when I read this there were over thirty teams out on the trail, and when he wrote it there were probably seventy or more teams out there, because he was celebrating the fact that the race had been won, apparently ignorant of the fact that it’s not over until the last team gets to Nome. Just think of all those neglected and ignored “poor puppies” still racing across the snow as he exulted over their race’s being over. That wasn’t the only bit of ignorance expressed in that post, and I think I’ll have more to say about it after I give the matter more thought and research, unless that train of thought gets derailed before then.
That Xangan is certainly not the only person who hates the Iditarod and believes that it is the prime exemplar of animal cruelty for our time. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, I think, has been catching most of the criticism because it has gotten so big. This year 96 teams started the race, and as of this morning 80 of them either had finished or were still on the trail. This means that the number of scratches and withdrawals (16) from this year’s Iditarod is greater than the number of finishers (15) from the 2008 Yukon Quest, and the current number of entrants (also 15) in the running for the All Alaska Sweepstakes, which will start eleven days from now. Only thirty teams finished the 2008 John Beargrease Marathon in Minnesota. In that crowd, Iditarod stands out and makes an attractive target.
Above: the winners of the first All Alaska Sweepstakes, in 1908.In 1908, the newly formed Nome Kennel Club decided to organize a long-distance race. The purpose was to have a race that was more humane for the dogs than the all-out sprint races common at that time. Sled dog sprint racing still exists, and I know from first-hand observation that it is much harder on the dogs than the long-distance races, where their energy is conserved and they are give frequent rest and snacks.This is an excerpt from the rules for this year’s hundredth anniversary running of the All Alaska Sweepstakes:
There will
be no abuse or disregard of any dogs.
All dogs must be maintained in good condition. All water and
food must be ingested voluntarily. There will be no
cruel or inhumane treatment of dogs. Cruel or inhumane
treatment involves any action or inaction, which causes preventable
pain or suffering to a dog. Harnesses must be padded. No whips
are allowed! NOTE: In an excerpt from the Nome Nugget Mining
edition 1908, “The distance was made four hundred and
forty miles in order to force the drivers to nurse their dogs…!
To further insure against any cruelty or over taxation of the
strength and endurance of the dogs, a very salutary rule was
adopted, that each driver must return to the starting point
with every dog that he started out with and none others, so that the driver of each team was forced to take
the utmost care of each dog in order to comply with the rule.”
No one convicted of a charge of animal abuse or neglect, as
such is defined under Alaska State law, may enter the All Alaska
Sweepstakes Race. Compliance with this rule is absolutely
mandatory!The AAS rules have been updated and made stricter. For those updates the organizers have used Iditarod rules as their model. Isn’t it ironic that the race which is targeted by PETA and the Humane Society for animal cruelty is recognized within the sport for just the opposite?
Lance Mackey, who last year was the first person ever to have won the Yukon Quest and Iditarod in the same year, and then had back-to-back Idita-Quest victories again this year, is registered for the AAS. The entry fee for this race is a specified amount of cash plus an ounce of gold. In the 2007 Yukon Quest, he and Aaron Burmeister were leading the race into Dawson, where a prize in gold goes to the first team to reach there. They agreed that whichever one of them won that gold, they would split the prize so that both of them would have the gold to enter the All Alaska Sweepstakes. Lance won the gold, split it, and they are both set to race on March 26.
I suppose I’ll be reporting here on who wins the AAS, and I will certainly be telling you who is this year’s recipient of the Iditarod’s Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award for exemplary dog care, and who gets the Red Lantern for bringing up the rear in this year’s Iditarod, when that race is finally over.
Comments (10)
I honestly don’t understand the point animal rights activists are trying to make by targeting things that aren’t animal abuse. I understand caring for animals and not just shooting them in the face whenever they come near, and I’m a member of an animal rescue group. Unfortunately PETA members and those are just ideallists who don’t actually realize the reality of a situation and just want to see themselves as “making a difference” regardless of if that difference has a point or not.
well,, hahahahaha,, i wrote a comment about as long as your post,,, hahahahaha,,, but then xanga went into glitch mode,,, either that or my computer.
well,, to avoid the same,,, ill just say i agree with the drug induced duck up there,,,,, hahahahahahahaha,,, drug induced duck.
Also I would very much love to see the Iditarod someday….
When I was about 9 years old we when up to our first dog sled race in Bear Valley, California. It was a small race with maybe 10 teams and I could be wrong on that number. I remember vividly two things. #1 The signs that said: Do Not Eat Yellow Snow, which as a nine year old I thought was hysterical and #2 How wonderful the men and their dogs got along. There was a love that I could feel at 9 all around us. Loyal dogs and people who took good care of them. I’m sorry about the “bad apples” who make humans want all of the fun and companionship to end. Unfortunately there are people who are unkind and careless with their animals, but it’s not all of them. It’s the same way I feel about people who run around making rules to keep our children sooo safe that they have net under them their whole lives so no one ever gets hurt. It’s just not living. We can take care of the one’s who are abusers we don’t have to stop doing things because along the way we’ll find abusers.
Some people just don’t take the time to get informed..they don’t understand a lot about the dog fancy and the different venues and things you can do and the bond you have with your animals…Lancy Mackey to be able to do what he does with his dogs has to have a postive relationship based on trust with his dogs…what people don’t get is these dogs want to pull the sled
Most doggys like to run, don’t they? Perhaps the uninformed detractors should be called Iditarodiots.
i swear some people can be so ignorant about all of this. Those dogs are trained to do this and they live to run races like this. Yes it is a test of indurance for both man and beast. Yes there are some unfortunate things that do happen. But the Iditarod isn’t the only race that is run. It is one of many …. Those dogs are fed before their human team member even eats. Those dogs are taken care of first! Then when everything is good with the dogs, then the human part of the team takes care of him/herself. There is no abuse on those dogs because if there were, the human responsible for that team is on the spotlight and it won’t be good either.
Ohyeah…such mistreated puppies! One look at those happy, grinning dog faces, and you just *know* they’re having the time of their lives doing wheat they were bred to do! I so enjoy your blogs. I don’t comment much, because what I have to say is usually already said by the time I get here. But for this, I just had to! *G* Glad your much healthier now, and hope your recovery from the pnuemonia is one of extreme speed and comfort.
Bright Blessings, Susu!
I had to comment about PETA, too. They aren’t an animal rescue service…they euthanize almost every animal brought to them, and they don’t care about horse slaughter! ‘Nuff said, or I’ll write an entire blog here, when I can do it at my place.*laughing* Pax!
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