Animal Person Mary Martin, PhD, deconstructs the language,
ethics and economics of our relation****p with nonhuman animals.
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February 12, 2008
On the Yukon Quest
Photo by Ian Stewart of the Yukon News
In keeping with this week's inadvertent twisted-things-
we-do-to-dogs theme, I give you the Yukon Quest, which
is sort of the less-popular stepsister of the Iditarod,
but no less horrible for the dogs. It is in fact called
"The Toughest Sled Dog Race in the World."
As you may know, both the Quest and the Iditarod are
grueling races of over 1,000 miles. The competitors
are called "mushers." The Quest has 50 mushers, each
with a team of 14 dogs, and the first 15 finishers
share a $200,000 purse.
The Yukon Department of Tourism and Culture markets the
event, and children are taught about it in the classroom,
sometimes by teachers who are on the board of the Quest!
There's even a Junior Yukon Quest, to make sure the youngins
are completely desensitized to the reality of what they're
doing.
I'll say this once: The dogs love to run.
And I'll say this once: To make them run when you want
them to run, in treacherous conditions in subzero weather
(it was -40 F the last time I checked the weather on the
trail, and winds can reach 100 miles per hour on mountain
summits), for over a thousand miles in 10-16 days (while
you watch and "mush" from your sled), is, in my mind, an
extreme injustice regardless of whether one dog is injured
or dies during the race, before it (during culling), or
after it (from injuries and/or exhaustion).
And by the way, musher Donald Smidt has already been
withdrawn from the race "for failing to provide the
dog care expected of a Yukon Quest participant." If
the Quest isn't considered cruel on the face of it,
just how badly do you have to treat dogs in order to
get withdrawn on the second day of the race? (Check
out what you have to do to get disqualified from the
Iditarod: It rhymes with "beat your dogs in front of
young children.")
As for culture, remember that it's sacred only because
it was sacred yesterday. If your culture involved a 1,000
mile sled dog trek at one time, chances are in 2008 the
only reason something like that is necessary is to promote
tourism and grab a glimmer of glory and a bit of cash if
you're a musher. And as for what happened yesterday, the
Quest commemorates the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush and river
mail delivery routes. It started in 1998, the centennial
of the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush. If you really need to
commemorate it, I'm fairly sure there's a less ugly way.
Last year I learned just how venomous mu****ng-defenders
can be when criticized (I won't dignify them with any
more exposure than that). Activist Mike Greico learns
that lesson over and over again, all year round. As does
Terry ***ming, of Sleddogwatchdog.com, who works tirelessly
to open the eyes of his neighbors and the rest of the world
to the cruelty inherent in the Quest and the Iditarod.
Judy Stone of the Animal Advocates Society in British
Columbia has dedicated her life to chained, abused, ill
and neglected dogs (including sled dogs) and TNR efforts.
All three are vilified by people who apparently believe
that the most valuable activities they should spend time
on are the use of dogs for their own gain, and the ridicule
of people who disagree with them.
For those of us who will never visit or move to the Yukon
or Alaska, thereby withholding our dollars (by default),
at least we can spread the word. Check out the sponsors of
the Quest, and if you do business with any of them or own
their stock, take appropriate action. Sponsors are just
following what they believe will be a trail to some sort
of gain. Let them know they've taken the wrong path.
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Hello Mary,
I'm sorry to hear that you have been trashed and "vilified"
by "mu****ng defenders." We're not all like that. As a musher,
I've been attacked and trashed by some animal activists but
I'm not going to say that you are all like that. In fact, I
emailed the director of Sleddogwatchdog.com when the site
first appeared and got a nice response back. It's obvious he
really cares about the dogs.
However, I disagree with the viewpoint that sled dog races
and the mushers who run them are inherently cruel. If you
ever do get up to Alaska you should stop by Crazy Dog Kennels
and meet 2-time Yukon Quest champ John Shandelmier, his wife
Zoya DeNure and their sled dogs. I can't speak for every
single musher in the world since I don't know them all but
John and Zoya (and all the other mushers I know) are about
as likely to mistreat their dogs as you are to mistreat yours!
Last weekend I ran in the Casper, WY sled dog races - a far cry from the
Yukon Quest but a competition no less. Great fun and next to impossible to
hold the teams back. I'll say this, I did a lot more than just watching
from
the sled! Granted, there are times when you can't do much more than watch
because the dogs are running so fast, but handling the sled takes a lot of
exertion on the part of the musher! I am still sore from using muscles I
don't
generally (I mainly do dryland mu****ng) and from dragging along behind the
sled when I didn't go around a turn right. I didn't make those dogs run.
We
would never have made it out of the starting chute if they didn't want to
go! We won a hand-painted dog bowl and $20 in the race - which doesn't
even
cover my entry fee! LOL
Anyway, sorry this is so long. Thank you for your time.
Alice White
Dog & Sled - http://www.dx4solutions.com/dogandsled/
Wolf Moon Dogsledding - http://sleddoggin.com/blogs/wolfmoonsleddog/
Posted by: Alice White | February 12, 2008 at 06:49 PM
Hi Mary (Alice, I did appreciate hearing from you last year - the
"Reasonable Musher") - thank you both for taking time to think about and
contribute to the 'sled dog' discussion. Sled dog advocacy is on the
opposite end of the scale when compared to the animal advocacy attention
given to whales and dolphins, harp seals and wolves, as examples. It is
common amongst animal lovers to view sled dogs (and greyhounds) as
"working
dogs" (not needing affection and love like a companion pet). It is also
common amongst DOG LOVERS to either view sled dogs similarly, or to accept
'carte blanche,' that all dog mushers have "a special bond" and love for
their dogs.
I likely would not have devoted so much of my spare time speaking up (this
is by no means a full-time job, I do not need or accept money for my
efforts) had I not had sufficient 'insider information' about Yukon and
Alaskan sled dog cruelty. I have gained much more such information since I
took a public stance. Practically no one will speak up publicly giving
first
hand information about the various cruelties involved in the dog mu****ng
industry, and the cruel history of the Yukon Quest. And it IS an industry
up
here, with the both the Yukon Quest and sled dog tourism being heavily
promoted with public money. To add to that, there is no animal welfare
agency with powers to enforce humane treatment of animals including sled
dogs, outside of the City of Whitehorse. The government money that is
needed
for this purpose instead goes into the dog mu****ng propaganda machine.
I would dispute that 'most mushers' (at least in the Yukon and Alaska)
treat
their animals well. I would say the opposite, that there are very few
mushers who have a commitment to the lifelong care of their dogs. I do
appreciate that of the 'professional mushers,' John Schandelmeier is rare
in
his speaking up about Alaskan sled dogs being discarded ("950 sled dogs
per
year going through the Fairbanks Animal Shelter"). Mr. Schandelmeier, I
believe, rescues some of these dogs, trains them to be working or racing
sled dogs and rehomes them with other mushers. He has in recent years used
rescue dogs in the Quest.
In the early 1990's I went a few blocks during my morning coffee break, to
see John Schandelmeier who had just finished the Quest (can't recall what
year, or if it was a year that he had won) and was with his dog team on
Main
Street Whitehorse. His dogs were curled up into little balls and were
whimpering and licking their sore feet, legs and bodies. Mr. Schandelmeier
was hovered over them and to me, it appeared that he was apologizing to
the
dogs [for what he had subjected them to], as would a man to his wife or
family after a domestic dispute.
I don't want to paint Mr. Schandelmeier as a saint, he must have some deep
dark secrets having been a trapper for many years and I am sure he knows
about some of the bad stuff that has happened to sled dogs over the years,
as part of the Alaskan dog mu****ng/racing fraternity.
Not to make too much of it, but my maternal grandfather was a trapper
(using
dog teams) for much of his life, operating around where Northern
Saskatchewan, NWT and Alberta meet. My father had a working dog team from
when he was a young teenager because his father/my grandfather was often
away in winter, weathered in somewhere on the Mackenzie River system (he
was
a ****p's captain, who spent a lot of time on the Mackenzie, Slave and
Athabasca Rivers) and my dad had 8 sisters and 1 brother to sup****t.
Unfortunately I did not get a chance to talk to my dad about his dog team
before he passed away suddenly several years ago. One of my mother's
uncles
was a famous priest who was well known in the north for travelling long
distances with sled dogs.
I have travelled throughout the north (NWT, Nunavut, Yukon) in my job for
close to 25 years and have always felt sorry for the dogs in the numerous
dog yards I have seen. In Iqaluit, Nunavut, dogs were chained to the
shoreline in the community, with no protection from the wind and cold.
I first started to get a close bond with discarded sled dogs and 'dog yard
dogs,' through spending a lot of time volunteering at our humane society.
My
wife and another couple, and various friends of ours would take almost
every
dog in the shelter out to a beautiful fenced property owned by the other
couple, we made a special effort to always take the huskies (who needed to
run the most). Many of these dogs had never been off a chain in a wide
open
area and would be shocked to find themselves free to run when they got out
of our vehicles - and run they did, when they realized it was safe and OK.
We did up to 5 or 6 20-mile return trips one day of almost every weekend
for
close to five years until our friends sold the property and moved away. I
love to see a bit of that wild (husky) streak in dogs.
I have been doing lots of soul-searching with regard to my sled dog
advocacy
because I have not taken an outright abolitionist standpoint (our right to
use animals for any purpose - my view to my own two shelter dogs is that I
am here to serve them, and that they own me) although I have strong
opinions. One of the things that most infuriates me is Yukon society
billing
the Yukon as some sort of sled dog paradise when it is anything but. The
common way most dogs are kept here is that they are chained for long
periods
of time next to shabby, uninsulated dog houses. They are always under
control, whether it is at the end of a chain or in harness. Many of these
dogs do not get regular food, water or vet care. Most of the local QUEST
mushers are not ashamed about selling or giving away surplus dogs/ex-Quest
dogs, through ads in our local papers or pet supply stores. I am as much
concerned about about the ones whose names I do not see selling or giving
away dogs.
Just needed to clear up a few points before the web trolls descend. The
Quest has a maximum field of mushers set at 50, they have seldom or never
come anywhere near getting that number of race entries. This year, the
'25th
running' (next year is the '25th Anniversary') of the Quest, the
organization was hoping to get close to that magic number, through Lance
Mackey winning both the Quest and Iditarod. Mackey apparently used 13 of
the
same dogs in the Iditarod who had won him the Quest just weeks earlier
(one
of these dogs neary died from pneumonia). The Quest was hoping that more
Iditarod mushers would follow in his footsteps by running both races. The
number of racers this year who made it to the starting line was 24, as of
this morning the field was down to 17 remaining mushers.
Mary, I thank you so much for your special powers and Alice, please give
your doggies some big hugs from me.
I would like to thank online, the Yukon News, especially Quest re****ter
Genesee Keevil (gkeevil@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
) who has done some great re****ting
about the race (what has she done in the last couple of years to deserve
this distinction? ...She has simply re****ted what she has seen and heard
and
doesn't 'sugar coat' her Quest re****ting as every other Yukon re****ter
does). I would like to thank Senior Editor Richard Mostyn for allowing his
paper to be the last bastion as a media entity for allowing public
discussion about dog mu****ng and the Quest. That picture of the injured
dog,
taken by re****ter/photographer Ian Stewart is sad, moving and powerful. I
hope he wins a newspaper award... What is the name of that beautiful and
noble dog?
Posted by: Terry ***ming | February 12, 2008 at 11:23 PM
P.S. - EXACTLY HOW DID THAT DOG GET HURT???
Posted by: Terry ***ming | February 13, 2008 at 09:36 AM
Alice,
First let me say that for those of us who are interested in animal rights,
cruelty of the Ramy Brooks kind really isn't the issue, although it's
clearly horrible.
For us, the use of animals when we don't need to use them--and I cannot
think of an instance where we would actually need to use them--is morally
unacceptable.
For example, I have adopted two Greyhounds who were used for racing. I
wouldn't think of making them run to satisfy some desire I have (like to
watch them compete or see if they'd win or to make myself a couple of
bucks). For those of us interested in allowing animals to live their lives
as free of us as possible, "pet owner****p" is even a compromise, although
because we have created an enormous population of domesticated cats and
dogs
I feel we are morally obligated to do something about that.
I take my dogs to run, and if they feel like running they do, and if they
don't they walk around and sniff and roll and leap around.
The cruelty inherent in mu****ng is most obvious in egregious situations
like
the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest, but there's also cruelty and injustice
in
dominating and controlling animals and making them do what you want, when
you want. Even if the activity is something they might like to do, like
run.
What animal rights activists want is for people to stop using animals, not
to change the way they use them so it involves less culling or beating or
mutilation. Animals have done their time in our service--against their
will.
It's time we let them be.
Posted by: Mary Martin | February 13, 2008 at 12:10 PM
As a backcountry skier, mountain climber, animal rights vegan, and
generally
an endurance athlete who has included enthusiastic dogs many times in my
skiing and running adventures, I can say from experience that dogs are
very
similar to humans in their enjoyment of a romp outdoors and their limited
capacity for human extremism in competition. We (humans and canines) both
love a romp in moderation, but there's a fine line between a fun day
outdoors and a living hell. Also, when it's time to retire, it's time to
retire, whether it is from exhaustion of the day's activities, or from old
age. The dog whom I used to take with me skiing no longer goes due to age.
The only reason I took her in the first place was because I could tell she
loved it. She's too old to enjoy it now. There were also many trips that I
considered too long or too dangerous for her (e.g. marathon training runs,
skiing in avalanche terrain, and potentially dangerous, but nontechnical
mountain climbs).
The Alaskan "canine ultramarathons" and the Badwater (humans-only)
Ultramarathon (a 135 mile endurance run in the California desert in hot
110F
weather) have one major attribute in common: they are both EXTREME. The
difference and problem is that while the Badwater is voluntarily entered
into by people who love to punish themselves and can quit whenever they
choose, the Yukon and Iditarod is INVOLUNTARILY entered into and the
hapless
participants CANNOT quit whenever they choose, even if it means serious
injury or death. What if a group of "Badwater human mu****ng enthusiasts"
FORCED humans to train for and run the Badwater? Would we not be outraged?
What if they forced them to run until some of them died?
The difference between training for and running sled dogs in a 10
kilometer
event versus forcing them to endure the Yukon or Iditarod events is like
the
difference between a parent who encourages their 16 year-old to enter the
local 10K running race versus forcing the 16 year-old to train for and run
the Badwater, come death or what may.
Sled dog racing at short to moderate distances (15 miles or less with
proper
training) probably is something that dogs genuinely enjoy as long as it is
kept at the "fun" level, but don't insult our intelligence and suggest
that
they enjoy being forced to endure the living hell of the Yukon or Iditarod
cruelty-fests. These races should be as illegal as horrific forced child
labor camps. It is sick human extremism inflicted on the innocent.
Posted by: Dan Cudahy (Unpopular Vegan Essays) | February 13, 2008 at
01:25
PM
It is sad that man who is supposed to be the more intelligent on this
earth
has become the most feared. What a great honor...we should feel very happy
to have this title. With all of this intelligence we say we have, why
can't
we seem to see the pain and suffering that we inflict on others?
I am tired of hearing that dogs love to run, of course they love to run,
but
in that kind of weather...they freeze as well as we can. But the
difference
here is that we as the more intelligent have the right to choose to
freeze,
they do not. I bet if asked they would rather have a nice warm home to
live
in.
I have read some of these comments and the more I read them the more I see
that most of the ones that don't see anything wrong with this are the ones
who had been using dogs, or still do. Of course we will never get any of
these people to say that they abuse these animals.
I have for years watched these races along with all of the other forms of
entertainment that we seem to use animals in, and for some reason I can't
seem to understand why we just keep having to use them? Can't we with all
of
this intelligence come up with something that we can do that only includes
humans, since we are given the choice to choose? Then if there is abuse,
we
will have to agree that it is abuse. But these poor dogs and other animals
cannot tell us just how much pain they are in.
But this is just another act against innocent creatures. We force them
into
these situations because we can! We are nothing but big fat bullies!
Posted by: Elizabeth | February 13, 2008 at 02:50 PM
'Ulcer-ridden Quest dog vomits blood on 2008 Quest trail'
Dog problems plague mushers on way to Eagle
By Matias Saari
Fairbanks, AK Daily News Miner
Published Wednesday, February 13, 2008
SLAVEN'S ROADHOUSE - Turning around is akin to taking points off the
scoreboard, but on Monday three mushers did just that, and with good
reason.
Julie Estey of Fairbanks left Circle City on Tuesday morning s****ting a
red
parka and in the red lantern position, but a short while later returned
and
reluctantly dropped Timmy, one of her lead dogs.
Estey had carried Timmy in the sled basket the night before and hoped he
had
recovered enough to continue after an 8 1/2-hour break. That wasn't to be.
Estey, however, still passed Ann Ledwidge en route to Slaven's Roadhouse.
Cor Guimond, meanwhile, left Slaven's late Tuesday morning, but was
unexpectedly back within the hour. Three of his dogs weren't pulling well.
"I'm going to have to baby them," Guimond said. "Some of them got hurt on
the ice last night."
Then he returned to the roadhouse to wait things out.
"It ain't no fun being stuck," Guimond said. "You gotta make sure you're
unstuck before you run out of grub."
Guimond eventually got going again with 11 dogs, one fewer than when he
first left Slaven's.
Dan Kaduce's experience, however, was the most serious.
Kaduce left Slaven's in fifth place at 6:15 a.m. on Monday and returned
about three hours later with a 4-year-old male named Guetknecht in his
basket.
About 10 miles from Slaven's, the dog vomited, so Kaduce pulled over, he
said. Then he vomited a second time, with considerable blood.
"That's when I realized we had to go back to Slaven's or I probably would
have arrived in Eagle with a dead dog," he said.
Guetknecht, whom Kaduce said had bloody ulcers, was stable after getting
to
Slaven's.
"The vet said he's going to be fine," he said.
Kaduce ended up dropping two dogs after his first Slaven's arrival and two
more on the second trip, leaving him with 10. He also lost eight hours of
time - and five places - because of the ordeal, departing for good at 2:20
p.m.
Kaduce put his race on hold for the welfare of his team and was relieved
nothing worse happened. He did not appear dejected about the turn of
events.
"I want to finish, so I try not to think about it too much," he said.
Kaduce was also the beneficiary of some good s****tsman****p, as Bill Cotter
and Kelley Griffin each gave him food - lamb, horsemeat and salmon -
because
he was running short after the extra trip.
"The food fairies delivered," he said.
Awaiting Mackey:
A seemingly invincible Lance Mackey left Trout Creek 40 miles shy of Eagle
at 6:45 p.m. Monday night; he was eagerly awaited there by those waiting
to
hear about his navigation of severe jumble ice near Kandik River.
Approaching Trout Creek late Monday afternoon, Hugh Neff had a narrow lead
on Brent Sass as Ken Anderson camped in fourth place about 10 miles back.
Penalties *****sed:
According to race rules, Ken Anderson, Bill Pinkham, Julie Estey and Kyla
Boivin will have to spend an extra two hours at Eagle checkpoint because
they failed to check out of the Chena Hot Springs checkpoint on Saturday.
The oversight was somewhat understandable, given the highly unusual
cir***stances of leaving there to truck their dogs to the Mile 101 dog
drop
because of a route change.
[A significant ****tion of the Yukon and Alaskan population apparently
'gets
off' on this dog abuse - all the more reason to call for an end to this
race
and to seriously consider boycotting Yukon and Alaska as tourist
destinations]
Please tell the Yukon Department of Tourism and Culture to stop rewarding
sled dog abuse -
http://sleddogwatchdog.com/howl1.html
http://newsminer.com/news/2008/feb/13/dog-problems-plague-mushers-way-eagle/
Posted by: Terry ***ming | February 13, 2008 at 08:54 PM
Interesting comments from everyone.
A recurring theme I see here is the assertion that sled dogs do not have a
choice as to whether they mush. They do. Case in point: last Fall, I
hooked
up two inexperienced dogs from a friend behind Calypso (my own dog whom,
by
the way, I do bring inside even though she has a thick coat to withstand
Winter conditions. Unlike my non-sled dogs, she does not like warm things
-
she won't go near the fireplace and I have to turn the hallway heater off
before she will set foot there). Calypso was tired since she had already
run
that morning and she was getting annoyed with the bouncy huskies behind
her.
She decided she had had enough and didn't want to run. We made it a
hundred
yards or so down the trail and then she stopped. I tried to get her going
again. I petted her, told her to "hike!" and tried to be as enthusiastic
as
possible. No luck. She didn't want to run. So...we didn't run. And keep in
mind that I WANTED her to run.
However, Calypso DOES want to run most of the time. Is it cruel for her to
mush when both of us want to just because one of us is human? I love
music.
Is it cruel/immoral for me to buy and listen to CDs because that's what
the
record company wants me to do?
I know I am kind of skirting the animal rights/abolition issues that
separate me from most of you. I'd be interested in discussing this more
but
it's late right now - time to get dogs inside. Hopefully I will have more
time tomorrow.
Posted by: Alice White | February 13, 2008 at 10:07 PM
PS to Terry - I too would like to know how the dog was injured. My first
thought was ear injury which might have been caused by another dog biting
him (or her!) but I certainly can't say for sure. Have you tried to
contact
the photographer?
Consider my dogs hugged!
Alice
Posted by: Alice White | February 13, 2008 at 10:14 PM
Mary, thanks so much for this post. And ALL your post. You are wonderful.
As
always!
And many thanks to Terry ***ming for your time and compassion for the life
of another! I will always back you in this "Good Fight".
***************************************************
Yukon News Feb 11/08
Of animals and irresponsible people
This recent cold spell has me thinking about all the animals in the Yukon
(and elsewhere) who have been suffering and struggling to stay alive.
The chained dogs, the stray dogs and cats who do not have a warm refuge to
wait for a change in the weather. Close to 350 dogs will soon be subjected
to much misery (potential injury and death) in 'the 25th running' of the
mighty Yukon Quest. Many, many more so-called sled dogs left behind to
wait
out their fate. Sad fate.
The distress of the trapped animals who slowly freeze to death, become
pray
or wait for the final blow from the trapper ("steward of the land") who
will
sell their hides so people can make a 'fa****on statement'. The fur belongs
to the animals! If humans were meant to have fur, we would grow our own.
On Thursday morning, the CBC Yukon 'A New Day' crew were complaining about
this cold weather, with more cold weather predicted . Program Director
Roch
Shannon Fraser was heard to say "I'd like to shoot that groundhog, I can
tell ya!" (That is what I remember hearing).
Mr. Fraser (and CBC) - How many times must people tell you to stop joking
about animal cruelty? How many more times will you use animals as a
pathetic
joke? Eh?
Speaking of which, I hope CBC Yukon will take an occasional break from its
Yukon Quest cheerleading, such as the 'A New Day' people socializing with
the Quest mushers during the weekend layover in Dawson - while the real
athletes ("slaves") ****ver outside, and do some actual re****ting about
this
brutal race for a change.
Does anyone know what is happening with the Yukon Animal Protection Act?
Anyone?
Praise and comfort to all the animals!
Mike Grieco
Whitehorse
Posted by: Mike Grieco | February 14, 2008 at 02:01 AM
Welcome to the Yukon! Where animal exploitation is a "Larger the Life"
celebration!
Pick an animal! Any animal! We exploit them all!
Pathetic!
**Peace & Health to ALL Life**
Posted by: Mike Grieco | February 14, 2008 at 09:57 AM
Alice,
Your experience in what I'm assuming is light to moderate distances in
relatively warm weather (e.g. above 0F) is NOT the point. I fully accept
that most (so-called) "sled" dogs enjoy "mu****ng" under moderate
conditions
and for moderate distances, just like my dog(s) like to run with me when I
ski.
The fact that experienced trainers can psychologically condition dogs to
run
excessive distances in dangerous and extreme weather and make it *seem*
like
the dogs *want* to run themselves literally to death or damn close to
death
*says nothing* about whether it is extremely cruel and wrong to do so or
not. These dogs are *bred* and *psychologically conditioned* to punish
themselves and endure extreme pain and hard****p because of the human
perversion of dogs' psychological needs.
Pit bull terriers are often bred and psychologically conditioned to fight
to
the death and many of them *seem* to "enjoy" dog fighting. This is
*precisely* the same mentality that goes on in events like the Yukon Quest
and Iditarod. Breeders and trainers in dog fighting and extreme dog
sledding
have essentially created dogs through breeding and training who will
inflict
tremendous injury on themselves and seem to do it "very willingly". This
is
a perversion of the desire of a dog to follow a pack leader. It is sick
and
demented. I don't have a problem with recreational, moderate sledding that
is done as much or more for the dogs' sake as anyone's, but the extremism
of
the Yukon and Iditarod events is deplorable.
If someone asked me whether I'd rather be born a Yukon Quest sled dog or a
fighting pit bull in rural Mississippi, I'm not sure which torture I'd
regret more.
Posted by: Dan Cudahy | February 14, 2008 at 03:48 PM
Hello Dan,
I am ashamed that there is dogfighting in my area. I've never seen it but
I
know it goes on. And believe me, I want it stopped.
However, I don't see dogfighting as being at all like sled dog racing.
Remember that originally, bulldogs were bred to control cattle in
stockyards
(hence the name bulldog) not fight each other. The raising of dogs for
fighting has only recently come about. Sled dogs, on the other hand, were
originally bred to pull sleds. Their sled dog instincts (including the one
to disobey their musher if need be) go back thousands of years.
You might say "yes but the raising of racing sled dogs has only come about
recently." True. But look at the main difference. Fighting dogs are doing
something very different from what their ancestors did. Sled dogs are
still
pulling sleds - these modern dogs are just much faster. And I have met
quite
a few of them.
I see the running/pulling instinct in practically every husky or husky mix
I
meet. I have never seen the fighting instinct in any pit bull or pit bull
mix that I have met. Just yesterday, a pit bull mix came over and tried to
play with my dogs - not fight them!
By far the biggest difference between mu****ng and dogfighting is this: In
dogfighting, the POINT is to injure the dogs. Not so with mu****ng.
Posted by: Alice White | February 15, 2008 at 03:19 PM
Alice,
I'm not sure how much more clear I can make the point that you've been
dodging: I'm not making blanket statements about dogs pulling sleds. In
moderation and where it is clearly for the benefit of the dogs, I don't
have
a problem with it. In the case of the Yukon Quest and Iditarod (the events
you've avoided commenting on lately), I think the extreme excess in
training
and the events themselves, both in miles travelled per day and per week,
is
very obviously cruel and abusive. It is the agony these dogs endure that
I'm
comparing to dog fighting, not the "goal" of the events. Both are cruel to
the extent that I'm not sure if I'd want a life as a fighting dog or a
Yukon
Quest or Iditarod sled dog: both are miserable beyond my imagination.
If you are going to address my point instead of ignoring it, you will
comment specifically on the cruelty inherent in racing dogs 1,000 miles
over
10 - 14 days in extremely harsh winter conditions and training for such
events.
Posted by: Dan Cudahy | February 15, 2008 at 05:51 PM
Dan,
I didn't mean to seem like I was avoiding the Iditarod and Quest. I have
ridden along when some Iditarod mushers were training their dogs and I
have
seen neither abuse nor dogs in pain. The dogs were tired afterwards but
there is a BIG difference between tired dogs and dogs who are in agony. To
be completely fair, I did this earlier in the season so it wasn't quite as
intense as it is now. You have to gradually work up the distance you run
whether your goal is a 6-mile race or a 1,000-mile one. However it doesn't
make sense either in training or in a race to go so hard that your dogs
are
in agony. For one thing, that would make the dogs not want to run and they
would probably quit. As you mentioned, you would not want to run if you
were
in pain either. You wouldn't be able to do what you can do when you are
feeling good. Sled dogs certainly couldn't. Yet, from what I have seen,
read
and heard, the dogs generally come into the finish tired but otherwise
okay.
The sled dog has the right form to run long distances in winter conditions
(their wild cousins - wolves - also have the right form to withstand that
weather).
Like I said, I have met quite a few sled dogs - from recreational to
Iditarod and Quest racers. Those who I have met do not show signs of a
life
of suffering. In fact, many of them act much like a pet Labrador. One of
my
favorite sled dogs I have met is a 14-year-old, 7-time Iditarod finisher.
He's
happily retired now and in better shape than most 8-year-old dogs I know.
Running the Iditarod has not adversely affected him in any way I can see!
So, basically all that to say that I don't think most distance racing sled
dogs are in a constant state of torture.
Posted by: Alice White | February 15, 2008 at 08:18 PM
Hi Alice, Dan and Mary - I am strongly against both the Iditarod and the
Yukon Quest not just because of the suffering that is inflicted on dogs
during the races but for also what happens to dogs the rest of the year.
The
totality of my philosophy is contained on my website, which includes
im****tant criticism of the Quest and exploitation of Quest dogs from
Seppala
Sled Dogs (Quest is "sheer exploitation of sled dogs"). I must also keep
reiterating the issue of culling of sled dogs and puppies which I know is
a
fact of life for dogs, at least here in the Yukon and Alaska where most of
the Quest mushers hail from.
It is disgusting that dogs are forced to run up to and over 100 miles a
day
while pulling a heavy load through difficult terrain (the Alaska side of
the
Quest is known for the incompetence of Alaskan Yukon Quest race officials
in
preparing a proper trail). How do dogs train for 100 mile runs? Aside from
the mushers who put dogs in training for hours at a time in carousels
(like
gerbils and hamsters), there is no way to prepare dogs for this demand on
their bodies. All Quest and Iditarod mushers are gambling with the lives
of
their dogs who can drop dead at any time. Many dogs suffer from ulcers,
this
year one Quest dog, as previously posted, vomited blood. Mushers and vets
knowingly allow ulcer-afflicted dogs and dogs nursing injuries to be run
in
the Quest. Yesterday a Quest veterinarian was interviewed on radio about
one
of the Quest mushers being disqualified for poor dog care early in the
race.
The vet refused to give the particulars on why the musher was kicked out -
e.g. was he seen beating his dog team? Last year 4-time Iditarod finisher
John Suter wrote a letter to the editor (which is easy to find on the net
and is also on Mary's 'Chime in regarding dog mu****ng' blog from late Oct.
2007). I am glad this is still on the net, but I rarely visit that page
because of the bad memories of that time from dealing with the individual
who was opposed to my views and ridiculed me in local papers and on the
net
for my sled dog advocacy. This individual ultimately ended up bringing
disrepute to his own name and must live with his words.
John Suter stated that "all the top Iditarod mushers" beat their dogs in
order to be competitive. This was in response to Ramy Brooks being caught
beating ("kicking and slugging") his team in the 2007 Iditarod
(Idiotarod).
Mr. Suter was specifically referring to the "much needed equal run/equal
rest rule." Iditarod mushers are known for forcing their dogs to run on
long
sprints with minimal rest, that is happening more and more in the Yukon
Quest with mu****ng heroes/knuckleheads like last year's Quest champ Lance
Mackey, who brags about that his dogs will happily take whatever he gives
them.
On my site I have not taken a stance about aboli****ng the use of sled dogs
for recreational or 'light competitive racing,' but what right do I have
to
judge and set limits on how animals, including 'man's best friends,' can
be
used?
Posted by: Terry ***ming | February 16, 2008 at 10:18 AM
[2008 Quest dogs suffer from frostbitten *****es and scrotums]
Wednesday, Feb. 13th article by the only 'actual journalist' covering this
race, Ms. Genesee Keevil of Yukon News.
'Trucks leak, but dogs and handlers blister'
CIRCLE, Alaska:
Kelly Griffin's dog Star has a sack of liquid the size of a large
grapefruit
hanging from its neck. On Saturday, during the 160-kilometre run from
Fairbanks to the first checkpoint at Chena Hot Springs, Star got
frostbite.
She had collar rub, said Dan Kaduce's handler and wife Jodi, who is caring
for Star.
Some dogs on chains end up wearing the hair away under their collars. With
that bare skin exposed at minus-40 degree Celsius temperatures, Star's
neck
froze.
"It's edema, or a fluid-filled sack," said race vet Jamie Martinez-Salles.
The dog is on antibiotics and its lungs and heart sound good, he added.
Star
was burrowed under an arctic sleeping bag in the back seat of Kaduce's dog
truck on Monday afternoon. Her neck was still enormous, but she was eating
well.
When Fairbanks' rookie Ken Anderson pulled into Circle, he dropped two
dogs.
One had a sore shoulder; the other had a frostbitten scrotum. "It's an old
frostbite injury," said Anderson. "I had him neutered so I didn't think it
was an issue, but there was some exposed flesh and it got him."
Former champ Bill Cotter, who pulled in after Anderson, didn't have any
frostbite issues. He'd also been running in 60-below temperatures heading
toward Circle, but had dog coats with flaps that hang in front of the
*****es.
It helps, said Tagish musher Ed Hopkins, who is handling for his partner
Michelle Phillips. "You just need something like that in front of them to
break the wind," he said. A number of mushers use ***** warmers to protect
their dogs' genitals. The fleece bands wrap around the dog's waist and
connect with Velcro. But if these aren't taken off and dried regularly, it
gets ugly, said Hopkins. The fleece protectors absorb liquid when the dogs
pee and end up freezing to their genitals.
Whitehorse musher Kyla Boivin had a couple males with frostbite, she said,
hauling in to Circle late Monday night. "But they're on the mend," she
said.
"The boys can't help it; they need their skin exposed to do their
business."
"What we really need is Eskimo dogs," said Hopkins with a laugh. "But
they're
too slow."
Even Mike Ellis, who is running fluffy Siberians, had trouble with
frostbite. One of his dogs got a little nip on the end of his penal
sheath.
The dogs are furry, but there's not much hair there, said Ellis, who is
one
of the few mushers who doesn't want it to get much warmer.
"My dogs were hot coming in here," he said, slurping chili at a picnic
table
in the Circle fire hall. "I don't need it too much warmer, minus 20
degrees
Fahrenheit is fine."
Dawson's Cor Guimond was toasty. "It's not cold out," he said. "When I
heard
it warmed up two degrees, I knew a warming trend was coming. And when the
clouds came in, I knew I was saved. It's balmy now."
Alaskan veteran Kelly Griffin was glad it was warming up. "But now we'll
probably get snow belly deep," she said. "So you have to be careful what
you
ask for."
Griffin didn't think she'd frozen anything. "But I haven't looked in a
mirror yet," she said. "A couple years ago, I came into Circle with a big
scab on my nose and didn't even know it." Griffin looked OK, but Hugh
Neff's
handler was another story.
Victor Perry frostbit his big toe during the race start in Fairbanks.
"It's
so swollen I can't even wear socks in my boot," said the Kiwi, standing
outside the Circle fire hall. "It was sheer stupidity," he added. "I just
had the wrong footwear."
Neff's partner Tamra Reynolds warned Perry that high-tech hiking boots
wouldn't cut it. "We tried giving him boots," she said. "But he was
adamant
about wearing them." And soaking his frozen foot at the Chena Hot Springs
didn't help, said Reynolds. "It took on lots of water." Perry was s****ting
big black winter boots in Circle.
"I learned the hard way," he said with a grin. Perry plans to have his
foot
checked out once he gets back to Whitehorse.
Humans and dogs weren't the only frostbite casualties. The Central and
Circle parking lots are covered in congealed splotches of oil and paths of
transmission fluid that look like the trails of wounded animals. Griffin's
truck quit in Central, and her handler was not dealing with it well. She
called locals who offered help a "bunch of drunks."
Then she barraged Griffin with questions immediately after the weary
musher
came off Eagle summit. After that, the tall blonde handler - up from New
York City - sat in the cold and pouted.
It was frontrunner Dan Kaduce's wife, Jodi, who managed to find another
starter for the truck in Fairbanks and get it flown to Central on Monday.
But apparently, the truck is still not working.
Jean-denis Britten's truck also quit.
"He's having tranny problems," said Hopkins.
Britten's wife is trying to juggle her mother-in-law, who is visiting from
Quebec and speaks very little English, her year-old baby boy, Odyland, and
deal with the sketchy transmission while getting to the checkpoints on
time.
"She's so quiet, she doesn't really ask for help," said Hopkins. "She's
just
out there pouring in tranny oil."
Hopkins also had some truck trouble. After seeing Phillips off at Mile
101,
he couldn't get the door shut, so he gave it a good slam. The window
shattered. It was a cold ride over the summit, said Hopkins. "I froze my
fingers."
He ended up taping some plastic over the window, but can't really see out
of
it.
Dawson handler and past racer Peter Ledwidge gave Hopkins the tape.
Ledwidge
is also picking up dogs for Britten, while his wife and family limp back
to
Fairbanks to get repairs on the truck.
After seeing off mushers at Circle, handlers have to drive all the way
back
to Fairbanks, on to Whitehorse and then north to Dawson, where they are
expected to have camp set up before the mushers arrive.
It's a haul for the handlers, who get very little sleep, usually only
catching the odd wink in idling dog trucks at the checkpoints.
contact gkeevil@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
by: Terry ***ming | February 16, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Wed. Feb. 13th article by Genesee Keevil of Yukon News:
'The world's toughest sled dog race lives up to its slogan'
EAGLE, Alaska:
The Yukon Quest trail vanished when Lance Mackey was roughly 120
kilometres
from Eagle. The three-time reigning champ was ahead of the trailbreakers.
Contending with jagged, sharp jumble ice two storeys high, and patches of
steaming open water, Mackey and his 13 dogs zigzagged across the river
trying to find a route in the dark.
"It was a little ridiculous in a race," he said. "I lost at least
one-and-a-half hours." He had turned around and was on his way back to the
last cabin he'd passed on the Kandik River, roughly 16 kilometres away,
when
the four trailbreakers showed up.
The night before, the trailbreakers had tried to make it to Eagle, but
things turned ugly just beyond the Kandik. Already battered and bruised
from
rolling their machines in some of the worst jumble ice in years, they
couldn't
find a way through the next bad section.
"The banks were too high - it was jumble [ice]from one side of the river
to
the other right up into the willows and there was open steaming water,"
said
trailbreaker Eric Cosmutto.
In the dark it was impossible to tell what was glare ice and what was
water,
he added. That's when they turned back and went to sleep at the public-use
cabin on the Kandik.
"We kept looking out to see if we saw a headlamp going by," said Cosmutto.
But none of them saw Mackey.
"When we woke up and saw puppy tracks on the trail, we knew we were in
trouble," he said.
Trying to find a route through the huge shards and ledges of ice with
Mackey
on his tail, Cosmutto dropped into a six-metre trough and started running
his snowmachine along the bottom. That's when he felt the ice move. A
nine-metre slab broke off. "I goosed it and jumped up into the jumble," he
said. "And that piece was just sitting there bobbing."
Right behind him, Mackey jumped on his sled brake. "There was no way I was
going that route," he said, eating pancakes, curried chicken and pasta at
the Eagle checkpoint at 2 a.m. on Wednesday.
Although they tried to avoid it, the trailbreakers ended up weaving
through
jumble ice for almost 20 kilometres. "I was getting cold and tired," said
Mackey. "Then I got in that stuff and I was wide awake and sweating
instantly."
The trail cut back on itself repeatedly, twisting around tight corners
that
weren't made for dog teams. "I was going around corners on my side," said
Mackey. "And I wouldn't even be upright again before I was bouncing off
something else."
It was "morally hard" on the three young dogs in his team. "They've never
been through something like that - we don't train in that stuff," he said.
"There were ice cracks out there a whole dog could fall into, easy."
When it wasn't chunky ice, crev***** and trenches, there were patches of
soft snow that felt like wading through a sandbox.
"And that fine stuff goes right through the booties, so I have lots of
dogs
with rosy feet," said Mackey.
His sled also took a beating. "I had to use bailer wire and duct tape to
hold the runner on," he said. And it was hard on the musher, being "bumped
and bruised and beat down." "It was a very demanding run, the kind nobody
wants to repeat any time soon," said Mackey. "And I'm glad I went through
it
in the daylight, because if I'd been going through in pitch black, I'd
probably be getting a plane out of this checkpoint."
The 64 kilometres of trail to Eagle, after the Trout Creek hospitality
cabin, were smooth sailing and Mackey's team looked OK. "These dogs are
strong and will withstand anything I ask them to do. There are just a few
wrist injuries." But it can take some time for injuries to show up, he
said.
"So I kept them pretty slow coming in here."
Fairbanks Quest rookie Ken Anderson, who usually races Iditarod, was only
20
minutes behind Mackey coming into Eagle.
"There were cracks and holes out there dogs could get thrown into," said
Anderson, who wasn't as hungry as Mackey, eating only pancakes and ham in
the old Eagle schoolhouse.
Anderson would see these boulders of ice on the trail and think, "That one
will put me out of the race, or put one of my dogs out of the race," he
said. "But the sled held up and my dogs are so tough, they just kept going
-
it was amazing." Until he hit the jumble ice, Anderson was beginning to
question the Quest's claim to be the toughest sled dog race in the world.
"I thought Eagle Summit was overrated," he said. But once he was out on
the
river, "wallowing in the soft snow." and jumble without many trail
markers,
things got "a bit freaky. I thought (the trailbreakers) were running out
of
markers," he said.
"There weren't many and I could see where they started using big blocks of
ice to mark the trail." It seems like there wasn't much preparation, said
Anderson. "I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd come across Lance
(Mackey),
and the trailbreakers stopped because it was too tough to get through."
Anderson was glad it wasn't snowing. "There really weren't many markers,
and
we were lucky because there was a fresh trail in front of us, but if there
was a storm out there, you'd really be screwed."
Anderson and Mackey left Eagle one minute apart, just after 7 a.m. on
Wednesday morning.
"It's starting to look like a race between Lance and me," said Anderson
before turning in for a few hours just after 2 a.m.
Both men were already thinking about the gold awarded to the first musher
into Dawson, 236 kilometres away.
"It looks like the teams behind me are falling apart," said Anderson.
Annie Lake's Hugh Neff is slowing down with only 10 dogs and one in the
sled
bag, he said. "And when I passed Brent Sass he had one dog in the bag and
another one limping."
But Mackey doesn't feel much pressure from Anderson, or anyone else. "The
competition's not pu****ng me like it has in the past," he said. Mackey's
more concerned about the trail, or lack of it. "It's frustrating," he
said.
"Maybe those trailbreakers could have started a day earlier."
Usually, trailbreakers run from Circle to Eagle and vice versa, but in
last
week's extreme cold, nobody moved.
"And we got a day behind," said Mark Backes, who's been breaking the race
trail for more than a decade. He and his crew were already in Central when
they got a call from Quest officials to come back to Mile 101 to reopen
the
route over Eagle Summit after a storm blew in over the mountain and closed
the road.
"And we can't seem to make up time," he said. "If we try and sleep, they
catch you."
The Alaskan trail is always rough, added Backes. "On this side, the
mushers
suffer. "It's ugly." The trailbreakers are volunteers using their own
machines.
Roaring through Eagle, Backes pointed out the shattered hood and the
stitches filling his wind****eld. The $10,000 machines rolled numerous
times
while the trailbreakers tried to navigate through the jumble ice. Cosmutto
actually broke the trailing arm off one of his skis and had to bolt it
back
together using angle iron.
Although they're bumped and bruised, and have smashed up their machines,
Backes was happy. "It's better than sitting home and watching TV," he
said.
The trail out of Eagle, over 1,026-metre American Summit follows a road,
but
there is severe glaciation. Former Quest musher Wayne Hall, who lives in
Eagle, was briefing Mackey on the glaciers early Wednesday morning.
The first glacier, about five kilometres out, isn't too bad, he said. If
mushers start to slide, there's a lip that should catch them. The next,
five
kilometres further, has spruce poles that Hall placed in it to stop sleds
from sliding down the sloping glacier and careening into the valley below.
But the third glacier, 16 kilometres out, is bad, said Hall. There is a
small lip that should catch sliding teams, "but if you miss that, you're
dropping 100 feet."
Sass arrived in Eagle at 4:24 a.m. about four-and-a-half hours after
Mackey.
Tagish musher Michelle Phillips was half an hour behind him, followed one
minute later by Neff. Dave Dalton came in at 6:12 a.m.
contact gkeevil@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
by: Terry ***ming | February 16, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Alice,
I can tell this discussion is going nowhere, but I'll write one more
response.
If the Iditarod and Quest were not "grueling" and extremely competitive to
the point of dogs' health and safety being in danger, it would not attract
the national attention it does. Your insistence that these events are not
a
big deal from an endurance standpoint (e.g. "the dogs generally come into
the finish tired but otherwise okay") completely contradicts the bravado
that the "mushers" and the race promoters display when they talk about how
amazing it is that the dogs are actually able to do this. Alice, I'm not
sure if you're attempting to deceive us or if you're genuinely
self-deceived, but basic common sense combined with what the human
participants and race promoters say, leave me to believe without a
reasonable doubt that you are completely wrong. The Quest and Iditarod is
HELL for most of the dogs.
About the "happy Iditarod dogs", surely you have so not-so-great tales
from
the dark side? We all know that some of these dogs die from the distance
and
weather conditions. The only thing your tales tell me is how much you want
to believe that the Iditarod is not a cruelty-fest - pure denial of the
nasty side of extreme competition. I would imagine, if dog fighting were
not
illegal in almost all states, that people defending dog fighting would
point
to a few "happy fighters" who showed no signs of serious distress, except
perhaps a scar here and there. But what's the big deal about a scar here
or
there? That's essentially you're argument for the Iditarod.
Even if the Iditarod wasn't quite a cruel as it is (let's say the dogs ran
one third of the distance they do now in response to appropriate public
outrage over the current abuse), I'd still oppose it just as strongly.
Competition among *consenting* normal adult humans, no matter how harsh,
is
something that is their choice to participate in and I have no opinion one
way or another about such competition. Consenting normal adult humans can
do
with their life whatever they want to, including ending it, and you won't
hear a peep out of me. BUT, when you involve innocent children or nonhuman
beings in competition, who are inherently vulnerable to severe
exploitation,
and especially when that competition pays, and even more so when it pays
significantly (like $200,000 to the winner), that's when you're doing
something seriously immoral. There are only trivial differences between
dog
fighting and the Iditarod.
Unless you say something significantly more meaningful in this discussion
than you have so far, I'm finished here. There are times when someone
argues
such absurd claims that further discussion makes no sense.
Posted by: Dan Cudahy | February 16, 2008 at 05:58 PM
Dan,
My opinions about the Iditarod and Quest come from meeting, talking to and
hanging around with those (both human and canine) who have run the races
and/or are training to run them, as well as intense research. I don't know
what your personal experience in the sled dog world is but what you see is
not what I have experienced. The "not-so-great" tales I have are
third-hand
and have nothing to do with the Iditarod or Quest (I know someone who
knows
someone whose sister says she saw a sprint musher, whose name I never got
cruelly hit a dog).
Yes, like everyone else, I heard about Brooks in the 2007 Iditarod. I
don't
know Brooks but quite a few of the mushers whom I do know are NOT happy
with
how he treated his dogs and believe he should have received more severe
punishment (again, getting close to the abolition issue here ie. does one
musher who mistreats his sled dogs justify a ban of sled dog racing/ does
one pet owner who mistreats his dogs justify the end of pets? I'm not
going
there right now, although I may at some future point). I have seen some
abused sled dogs who were rescued from non-Iditarod/Quest mushers and they
show definite signs of mistreatment - not physically but in their
behavior.
However I have NEVER seen this behavior in an Iditarod or Quest dog who
wasn't
rescued from somewhere else prior to his distance racing life. The "few
happy dogs" make up the majority of the dogs I have met. I could write
about
all of them but it would make all of this much longer than it already is.
I have one other thing. I hesitate to even bring it up for a variety of
reasons (including bad memories of the worst day of my life) but I think I
will mention in briefly. My first sled dog was a recreational pet. She
never
competed and she never ran more than a few miles at a time and it was
never
strenuous. Several summers ago, when she was five and a half, I went to
bring her inside as I did every day and she ran up a flight of stairs to
the
house, which she did every day. Only on this day she collapsed and died
while running up the stairs. Instantly. There was no warning, nothing
different in her behavior to signal a problem. My vet believes she died of
an aneurysm and that, had she been in his office, there was nothing anyone
could have done. It's not just in distance sled dog races that this has
happened.
I don't expect you to change your stance and am not asking you to do so.
In
fact, I'd be disappointed if you did - nobody should blindly believe one
source or side. I do hope that you will read what I've written and
consider
it, just as I have done for what you, Mary, Terry and Mike have written.
Yes, I AM listening and you ALL have brought up some very valid points
that
most certainly should be considered.
Nothing is black and white.
Signing out for now,
Alice
Posted by: Alice White | February 19, 2008 at 05:57 PM
So much of this discussion has focused on the treatment that the dogs
receive (i.e., animal welfare) which deviates from the essential question:
Do we have the right, morally, to bring these living, breathing, feeling
creatures into the world for the sole purpose of amusing us? It could be
dog
sledding, dog racing, dog showing, dog fighting, cock fighting, circus
tricks, carriage riding, dining, whatever. It is wrong.
Posted by: Patty | February 20, 2008 at 11:23 AM
YES, YES, PATTY! And it does certainly get a bit circular. I'm astounded
that anyone ever even tries to defend these two particular events. They
are
such extreme examples of cruelty that it shocks me that governments
sup****t
them. They also sup****t slaughterhouses, but they're not for FUN!
I don't care how many vets or mushers testify that the dogs are having a
grand ol' time. Breeding dogs for our use is simply, as you say, wrong.
Posted by: Mary Martin | February 20, 2008 at 12:19 PM
I agree entirely, Patty. The most significant difference between dogs
skiing
with me and dogs pulling sleds is that when dogs ski with me, they are out
there solely for their own benefit (in fact, if anything, they are in my
way, not helping me), but when dogs pull sleds, it is for solely for human
entertainment, regardless of what effects it has on the dogs.
|
