Do sled dogs love to run the Iditarod race?

Answer 1

1st Answer:

For the dogs, the Iditarod is a bottomless pit of suffering. What happens to the dogs during the race includes death, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, bloody diarrhea, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, broken bones, torn muscles and tendons and sprains. At least 142 dogs have died in the Iditarod, including two dogs on a doctor's team who froze to death in the brutally cold winds.

Dog beatings and whippings are common. During the 2007 Iditarod, eyewitnesses reported that musher Ramy Brooks kicked, punched and beat his dogs with a ski pole and a chain. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, "Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers..."

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens.. Or dragging them to their death."

During the race, veterinarians do not give the dogs physical exams at every checkpoint. Mushers speed through many checkpoints, so the dogs get the briefest visual checks, if that. Instead of pulling sick dogs from the race, veterinarians frequently give them massive doses of antibiotics to keep them running. The Iditarod's chief veterinarian, Stu Nelson, is an employee of the Iditarod Trail Committee. They are the ones who sign his paycheck. So, do you expect that he's going to say anything negative about the Iditarod?

The Iditarod, with all the evils associated with it, has become a synonym for exploitation. The race imposes torture no dog should be forced to endure.

2nd ANSWER:

The dogs are checked out carefully by a Veterinarian at each & every check stop. If they look the least bit sick or injured in any way, they are taken out.

Most of the owners love their dogs and keep a good eye on them too. Paws and bodies are carefully checked over constantly throughout the race plus temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, etc. That is BS that they are not checked out by the Veterinarians who are there to check them at the different check stops. Many rules have been put into place to insure that the risk of the dogs getting injured are greatly reduced such as the required booties for paws. Sure there are some bad owners out there but they get caught at the Vet checks. Most of the owners are good owners that love their dogs dearly & have put a lot of training and love into each of them.

What a very negative and biased answer is the First Answerer! By the way, one of the Veterinarians that volunteers there is a friend of mine & torture as stated in the first answer is not allowed.

Answer 2

Yes it is.