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