Sled Dogs Love to Pull Sleds!
[1] The Iditarod Sled Dog Race commemorates the intrepid mushers (including Leonhard Seppala) and their dogs, who fought through blizzard conditions to bring a life-saving diphtheria serum to Nome in 1925.
The 2025 Iditarod Race is scheduled for March 1 to 16
As a newly-arrived youth in Anchorage, AK during the early 1960s I recall my two favorite events of the winter carnival known as the Fur Rendezvous held in February: The fur auction and the dog sled races. These were thrilling activities which symbolized my newly adopted northern lifestyle.
[2] Anchorage Fur Rendezvous
For hours I watched as raw furs stripped from the carcasses of animals caught in steel traps were hoisted above the heads of auctioneers who spoke in excited chants inviting members of the audience to buy until the huge rack of dead animal skins was empty.
The World Championship Sled Dog Race held during Fur Rondy to this day starts downtown on 4th Avenue and cycles all around the area to conclude at the same spot. Tons of snow is brought in with city trucks and dumped on various roads blocked off to accommodating the athletes. Back then some mushers had whips, and some kicked the dogs and yelled at them. But this midwinter event was a chance for men of the north to come to town with their dogs in boxes on the back of rusty trucks, to sell the product of their lonely trapping endeavors, perhaps race their dogs for possible winnings, get good and drunk at least once–and maybe get some poon-tang–before heading back to the remote log cabin to begin preparation for spring.
As a Youth it was a Glorious Guy-Thing for Me
Alaskan sled dog racing is believed to date back to the gold rush era of Nome, where the Nome Kennel Club held races such as the All Alaska Sweepstakes (408 miles) and the Borden Cup Marathon (26 miles) from about 1906 until 1916. When gold mining activities declined in the area, Alaskan sled dog racing turned to the Interior. A 57-mile race was run between Ruby and Poorman, and in 1927 the Signal Corps Race was created in Fairbanks by the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System. The Signal Corps races initially followed a trail of some 58 miles between Fairbanks and Chatanika, which reached 2,240 feet in elevation near Summit. In 1931, the contestants ran two 30-mile heats, and in 1935, it became a mid-distance race to the Salcha bridge and back. In 1935 a musher named Bob Busky won the race for the third time and retired the trophy.
[3] Sled Dog Central
Racing of dog teams pulling sleds began in Alaska and is associated with Alaska throughout the world even now that it has become an international sporting event.
I didn’t know the history of sled dog racing as I watched those sprint teams in Anchorage during the 1960s, but one year the sport I only witnessed during Fur Rendezvous changed, with the entry of an Outside veterinarian named Dr. Roland Lombard. I remember him on the street with his dogs, as a crusty mild-mannered guy who treated his animals like they were his cherished children. He didn’t scream in threatening tones, he didn’t have a whip, he didn’t kick them, and he won the race!
From Wayland, Massachusetts, Doc Lombard won the Fur Rendezvous World Championship Sled Dog Race eight times in the 1960s and 1970s and was known for bringing innovative ideas about dog care to Alaska.
I also recall some people grumbling at bush flying operations on Merrill Field at the fact he came up here from Outside and beat all these long-time Alaskans, but over the years Doc Lombard became a beloved favorite of the Rondy public and part of the community of mushers who wanted to see the sport improve with humane treatment of the animals and better purses for winners.
The Iditarod Dream
During the early 1970s a new dog racing event was proposed by Knik musher Joe Reddington. This writer was in
attendance during one of his heartfelt presentations seeking sponsorship from Alaskans for an event originally set in 1967 to celebrate the Alaska centennial, and the 1925 dogsled run to Nome with lifesaving serum to save that community from a deadly diphtheria epidemic.
The only serum available at that time was in Anchorage and the engine of the only aircraft that could deliver the medicine was frozen and would not start. The serum was transported by train to Nenana, where the first musher began the rush to save Nome. More than 20 mushers took part, facing a blizzard with -20F temperatures and strong winds. News coverage of the event was worldwide.
[5] Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925_serum_run_to_Nome
This is part of our Alaskan heritage. As Alaskans we cherish dogs who serve in so many ways, from pulling
sleds to serving as police, fetching downed ducks to service animals for people with disabilities.
In 2019 Reddington is long gone, but his dream of a race from southcentral to Nome has been realized annually more than 45 years. Since the first race of the modern Iditarod in 1973 I have watched it every year. Just as horses are used for travel in much of the world, dog sleds are a reliable means of transport in our northern climate, especially when a machine is frozen. Because of Iditarod a revival in dog mushing has occurred in Alaska and around the world. As a teacher I promoted the Iditarod race among my students and to colleagues in and out of Alaska. At one time Iditarod generated curriculum was used in over 6,000 schools nationwide and the education program continues forcefully.
Dogs, raised as if they were children of the mushers, demonstrate with their exuberance how much they love to participate in this grueling but fulfilling annual marathon.
How Iditarod Has Changed
the Iditarod Trail Committee, Inc. (ITC)
[6] Jones, Tim, The Last Great Race, 1982 Madrona Publishers
A quaint set of rules, provided for the start to be in Anchorage regardless of weather conditions and that all teams will leave at staggered times starting at 10 a.m. on the designated March race day. All teams are required to stop for one 24 hour rest at any time they choose, and a checkpoint official must be informed of intent to take the required break. Entry fee was $1049.00. Rookie mushers were required to submit the recommendation of two known dog mushers or a dog mushing organization to be considered by the ITC for approval to run.
Mushers under those rules must start the race with no less than seven dogs, no more than 18, and they must finish the race with no less than five dogs on the towline. (Today the rules simply say no more than 14 dogs in a team, finish with minimum 6 at the end.) Dogs may not be added to a team after the start of the race. The sled or toboggan used was up to the musher, but it was required to be able to haul any injured or fatigued dogs and necessary equipment. Harnesses were required to be padded.
Dog Care is an Essential Provision of the Rules
Only one musher was permitted per team and that musher required to finish with that team. Dogs could not be switched between teams after they officially left Anchorage and, teams were forbidden from being tied together, nor a substitute musher allowed to take over any team.
Specifically, under Rule 14, the rules are particularly emphatic: “THERE WILL BE NO CRUEL OR INHUMANE TREATMENT OF DOGS. DECISIONS OF THE RACE VETERINARIANS, ACTING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE RACE MARSHAL SHALL BE FINAL.”
Further rules provide for the orderly running of the race when participants camp along the way, never tampering with another musher’s dogs, food or gear; forbidding outside assistance between checkpoints, prohibition against motorized vehicles
including pacing of racers, unless an emergency is declared by the race marshal.
Iditarod is understood to be a northern dog race requiring participants to apply skill and endurance with teams of dogs to cover what was then 1,049 miles of Alaska wilderness. The rules recognized that men or women who were able to compete in such a race were unique individuals who had a tremendous investment in the animals chosen to take them this distance.
One friend of mine related recently the fact he covered the first Iditarod as Business Reporter for the Anchorage Times, investigating whether ITC had the money needed to pay the winner’s purse. While the race continued over several weeks ITC was able to get backing from Marvin R. “Muktuk” Marston, who pledged a piece of land for collateral and assured the winner was paid.
[7] Muktuk Marston-Fallen Heros Project
Hearts and Souls of a lot of Alaskans have Gone into this Race Over the Years
.In the 1983 rules, mandatory gear under race rule 23 includes eight booties for each dog either in the sled or in use and in the sled. A minimum of four pounds per dog per checkpoint of food, plus the musher’s food were required, which had to be shipped to necessary official checkpoints by a designated date before the race. Provisions were made for best accommodation of injured, fatigued or sick dogs. This included shipping dropped dogs, accountability for expired dogs, and responsibility of each musher to care and feed dogs between checkpoints.
These thoughtful rules demonstrate the focus and enduring commitment of ITC and the many employees and volunteers who make this event possible. Expectation of the ITC is summed up in an explanation of Rule 36: All mushers will conduct themselves in a civil and sportsmanlike manner during the entire racing event.
Explanation: The race depends on the assistance of hundreds of volunteers who help out through their own generosity. A musher’s conduct is a direct reflection on the Iditarod Trail Committee and the public reputation of the event. The entire racing event includes the awards presentation in Nome and all money winning teams are expected to attend.
More than three decades later, the 2019 Iditarod Race rules take up 18 pages and the organization has a comprehensive web page.
[8] Iditarod.org
Among other statements in the Preamble to the rules is the following:
The object of the race is to determine which musher and dogs can cover the race in the shortest time under their own power and without aid of others. That is determined by the nose of the first dog to cross the finish line.
Additionally:
Policy Intent—The intent of these rules is to ensure fair competition and the humane care of sled dogs. The race should be won or lost by the musher and dogs on merit rather than technicalities. Race officials appointed by the ITC are responsible for
interpreting and enforcing the rules in keeping with that intent.
Entry fee is now $4,000. In addition to the 24-hour mandatory stop, one of three required 8-hour stops must be the Yukon river. Rules to enhance care and comfort of dogs have embellished those originally set. A “Good Samaritan Rule” provides:
A musher will not be penalized for aiding another musher in an emergency. Incidents must be explained to race officials at the next checkpoint.
Under Rule 30 mushers are tested for drugs and alcohol.
Alcohol or drug impairment, the use of prohibited drugs by mushers, and positive results on drug or alcohol tests administered during a Race are each prohibited.
Who could have expected in 1974 that mushers in remote parts of the state might some day carry small electronic devices that told their exact positions and allowed two-way audio and video communication? For a long time the use of cell phones or GPS were forbidden, but in the 2019 rules they are allowed under Rule 35:
A musher may carry and use any two-way communication device(s), including, but not necessarily limited to, a cell and/or satellite telephone. Use of such devices may not be used for any media purposes during the course of the race unless expressly approved in advance by ITC. A musher may also carry an emergency locator transmitter (ELT), a Spot™, or other similar satellite tracking device. However, activation of any help or emergency signal, including accidental activation, may make a musher ineligible to continue and may result in an automatic withdrawal from the race. Use of a GPS is also permitted.
Again, safety of the mushers and their dogs is the pre-eminent concern.
Veterinary Issues and Dog Care Rules are listed from Rule 37 to 46. They include specific provisions for Dog Care, Equipment and Team Configuration, Drug Use, Pre-Race Veterinary Exam, Jurisdiction and Care, Expired Dog, Dog Description, Dog Tag, Returned Dogs, and Hauling Dogs.
These rules have evolved. For instance, the running of a team of poodles caused the description of dogs allowed in the race to become “Only dogs suitable for arctic travel will be permitted to enter the race…” because the nature of poodle hair caused the animals to become frozen to the ground when they bedded down on ice.
In the case of an expired dog the rules are explicit:
Any dog death that occurs during the race results in immediate scratch or withdrawal, except only unless the death was caused solely by unforeseeable, external forces.
Any dog that expires on the trail must be taken by the musher to a checkpoint. The musher may transport thedog to either the checkpoint just passed, or the upcoming checkpoint. An expired dog report must be completed by the musher and presented to a race official along with the dog. At this time the musher shall scratch or be withdrawn from the race, except in the case of death due to unforeseeable, external forces. All dog deaths will be treated as a priority, with every effort being made to determine the cause of death in a thorough and reliable manner.
Persons offended by brutal nature see only the unforeseen events out of the control of man or dog and react. Iditarod has suffered by such insufferable people.
The Iditarod Race is under attack now for many years, as the organization that runs it struggles to respond to a predator organization while also conducting a phenomenal multifaceted sporting event. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has chosen the Iditarod Sled Dog Race as one of its primary fund-raising targets because such nonsense would not generate any income in countries that have practiced bloodsport endeavors for hundreds of years .
[9] Raising Roosters for the Cockfights in PH, DONN LISTON January 13, 2025
They Have Hurt Iditarod
The latest shrill PETA fundraising effort declares: “Eight Reasons Why the Iditarod Race Should Be Terminated Will Leave You Outraged.” They include: “1. Dog deaths at the
Iditarod are so routine that the official rules blithely state that some “may be considered unpreventable,” 2. If the dogs don’t die on the trail, they’re still left permanently scarred, 3. There’s no retirement plan, 4. Dogs pull mushers’ sleds up to 100 miles a day, 5. As many as half the dogs who start the Iditarod don’t finish, 6. No dog would choose to run in this arctic nightmare
[9] PETA Propaganda.
PETA Lie: Thousands of dogs are bred each year for sled racing, and Dogs at sled-dog breeding compounds have died of numerous ailments.
Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach has determined in 2019 to encounter PETA in hopes common ground might be found after all the damage done by that group. He even went hat-in-hand to Los Angeles to meet with the president of the predator organization on October 17.
Another video by some wackjob declaring “What I Saw as a PETA Observer at Iditarod Champions’ Dog Yards” was posted on the PETA blog October 21.
PETA sees Iditarod Sled Dog Race blood on the snow.
Any sponsor of Iditarod who pulls support based on PETA is complicit with these ignorant people. These are the companies PETA brags about convincing to drop support for Iditarod: Coca-Cola, Costco, Jack Daniel’s, Maxwell
House, Nestlé, Pizza Hut, Rite Aid, Safeway, State Farm, and Wells Fargo.
New sponsors need to step forward. Urbach’s real mandate is to engage companies who stand strong for American tradition and spirit.
Workings Dogs Die-Some are Injured
The ITC works hard to assure animals receive the best possible treatment, but the inevitable can happen and PETA exploits the exceptions to condemn the event overall. It is a ruthless tactic used against many worthy organizations and endeavors.
With half-truths and lies PETA writes as if it were speaking for the animals after consulting with them about what they think. It is propaganda to target people easily influenced by emotional appeals who are incapable of critically evaluating what is being said and why.
Iditarod is an honorable pursuit. By declaring war on Iditarod, by association PETA has declared war on Alaskans, who live a northern lifestyle with working dogs of all kinds, fur parkas, and meat in our diet. We don’t fit PETA’s California mind-set.
And, we cannot let those crazy people win.
References:
[1] Faces of Iditarod, Dick Mackey
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race commemorates the intrepid mushers (including Leonhard Seppala) and their dogs, who fought through blizzard conditions to bring a life-saving diphtheria serum to Nome in 1925.
https://www.alaska.org/advice/iditarod-sled-dog-race-history#:~:text=The%20Iditarod%20Sled%20Dog%20Race,serum%20to%20Nome%20in%201925.
[2] Anchorage Fur Rendezvous
https://www.furrondy.net/
[3] Sled Dog Central
https://www.sleddogcentral.com/ONAC/nac_history.htm
[4] World Alaska Malamute
http://worldalaskanmalamuteannual.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85:rolandlombard&catid=42:biography&Itemid=65
[5] Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925_serum_run_to_Nome
[6] Jones, Tim, The Last Great Race, 1982 Madrona Publishers]
[7] Muktuk Marston-Fallen Heros Project
https://www.fallenheroesproject.org/post/muktuk-marston
[8] Iditarod.com
[9] PETA Propaganda
https://www.peta.org/features/these-reasons-why-the-iditarod-race-should-be-terminated-will-leave-you-outraged/
