| Every year during the Iditarod, the infamous Alaskan | | | | weather report. The choice to take a step before |
| long distance dog race, at least one dog dies. | | | | your partner yells on belay. These choices can kill you |
| This 1000 mile long distance race has been under | | | | and your climbing team, or not. |
| attack for the past few years, but what is the real | | | | Mushing is a form of mountain climbing. Mushers are |
| issue? | | | | constantly making survival choices on the trail. Usually, |
| Is it the death of a dog? Is it the distance of the | | | | experience and knowledge will lead a musher to the |
| race? Often, when we see pictures of a dog team | | | | right choice and nothing happens. Other times the |
| we see a the dog driver (musher) riding behind the | | | | same choice can lead to death. Sometimes a dog |
| sled. We imagine during a 1000 mile race they just | | | | dies in the process, sometimes a human, sometimes |
| hook up the dogs, stand on the dog sled, and wait | | | | both. |
| for the finish line to appear. | | | | You can lead horse to water... |
| Hardly. | | | | Or a sled dog to the trail. The truth is, you just |
| Mushing is hard work, and it demands hours and | | | | cannot make a dog run a long distance race if they |
| hours of training time. In reality, very few mushers | | | | do not want to. Have you ever tried to make a dog |
| actually run the the long distance races. Training for a | | | | do something they do not want to do? Veterinarians |
| long distance race is a full time job. If you mush dogs | | | | use chemical restraint for this because it is not easy. |
| full time you still need to make money. Many mushers | | | | There will always be a dog driver who tries to buck |
| juggle training AND a full time job. Any parent can | | | | the system, and sometimes they even finish the |
| relate to that hefty schedule. | | | | race in a top position, but it is not the majority. Do |
| If mushers are just real people juggling life like the | | | | you know anyone who gets ahead by spamming the |
| rest of us, how could they make their dogs run a | | | | system? We all know of someone. |
| 1000 mile race? | | | | Let's do the math. If 100 racers enter the Iditarod, |
| Why climb a mountain? Sure, people die climbing | | | | and each of those racers has a team of 14 dogs, |
| mountains all the time, but they chose to climb the | | | | that makes 1400 dogs leaving the starting lineup. If 1 |
| mountain right? They were responsible for their own | | | | dog dies during the race that means 0.07% of dogs |
| death. | | | | die each year during the Iditarod. According to SPOT |
| Yes and No. | | | | (Atlanta Animal Shelter Statistics), Atlanta area |
| It all boils down to choices. Humans are not an island, | | | | shelters kill 87,000 dogs and cats each year. The dog |
| and we do not climb mountains alone. When a person | | | | kill rate is 52.7%. |
| dies climbing a mountain there was a moment when | | | | Until we lower the statistics of animals shelters, the |
| a choice was made. The choice to fly to base camp. | | | | Iditarod is just a distraction. |
| The choice to climb regardless of the sketchy | | | | Spay or Neuter your pet. |