E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News via AP
Dallas Seavey reaches the finish line to claim victory in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Nome, Alaska, on March 13, 2012.
25-year-old Dallas Seavey won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday evening, becoming the youngest musher to win the nearly 1,000-mile race across Alaska, The Associated Press reports.
"They mean the world to me," Seavey said of his dogs.
"I could not be prouder of these guys. It's hard to not come to tears when they finally crossed under this arch in first place." Read more.
Leave a Comment:
What happens to dogs during the Iditarod includes death, bloody diarrhea, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, kennel cough, broken bones, torn muscles and extreme stress. At least 142 dogs have died in the race, including two dogs who froze to death in the brutally cold winds.
Veterinary care during the Iditarod is poor. Here's just one example: Veterinarians have allowed dogs with kennel cough to race in the Iditarod even though dogs with this disease should be kept warm and given lots of rest. It's dangerous for the dogs with this disease to exercise with any intensity. Strenuous exercise can cause lung damage, pneumonia and even death. Kennel cough is a highly contagious disease that normally lasts from 10 to 21 days.
FOR MORE FACTS: Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org