On January 9th 2020 I attended a meeting with Yukon Member of Parliament the Honourable Larry Bagnell to discuss animal protection legislation in Canada and the current plight of the Yukon sled dogs who continue to be exploited and abused in the Yukon Government-sponsored Yukon Quest 1,000-mile sled dog race.
Mr. Bagnell agreed to relay a document to the Yukon premier on my behalf detailing the issues I raised during our meeting that included a link to this article titled The Yukon Quest Death Race! The Yukon Quest Death Race! Mr. Bagnell further agreed that he would forward my request to the premier that he review the document and respond to the issues raised therein. To date the premier has not responded either to myself or to the many petition supporters who have written to him regarding this issue.
Are We Making a Difference? What’s Changed?
The allure of running dogs to death appears to be waning. Entire boards are resigning because they can't agree on how to punish mushers for animal abuse. – Perhaps they are somehow missing the point that forcing an animal to run 1,000 miles in Arctic conditions IS animal abuse!
The entire board of the Yukon Quest Rules Committee recently resigned after disagreements about mushers’ penalty for drugging dogs.
The entire board of the Percy DeWolf sled dog race out of Dawson City Yukon has announced they will not return next year.
*The directive boards and ‘official race vets’ are there to make the Yukon Quest appear legitimate and somehow justify the horrific exploitation and abuse the animals suffer. A year ago when the dogs left the start line in Whitehorse the ‘official race vet’ stated on live media that some of the dogs already had mild to severe frostbite yet she still gave them the ok to endure a thousand-mile race in brutal Arctic conditions. It was minus -41 degrees below zero that day. Even mild frostbite is extremely painful.
The Yukon Quest 2020 race has the smallest field of mushers in the entire history of the Quest! Only two are actually from the Yukon.
Animal abuse is now illegal in the United States so that mushers who drug their dogs in the Alaskan Iditarod to force them to run even after they’ve been injured can now be criminally prosecuted. Many of those same mushers also compete in the Yukon Quest where there are no laws to protect the animals. Consequently the abuse of northern sled dogs is rampant right across Canada.
Several corporate sponsors have pulled funding from long distance sled dog races due to public pressure and the actions of protestors including: State Farm, Wells Fargo, Jack Daniels, and Guggenheim Partners. The largest annual sponsor of the Yukon Quest is the Yukon Government.
A letter recently sent to the Yukon premier by Michelle Hayward asking him to withdraw funding from the Yukon Quest was also published in the Whitehorse Star on January 24 2020. *A copy of the letter is posted at the end of this update.
A request for a response from the Yukon Premier to the worldwide opposition to his governments’ continued funding of the Yukon Quest has been relayed to the premier by the Yukon’s Member of Parliament.
The Walt Disney Company is Guilty of Abusing Sled Dogs! During filming of the movie Togo in 2019 the sled dogs used in the movie were out there in minus -41 below temps with severe windchills for days on end. The dogs required 9,000 calories a day just to survive filming. Note: People have such unreal expectations of these animals. They get frostbite! It’s extremely painful! They suffer!
The Death Toll Keeps Climbing: The Yukon Quest has claimed the lives of countless animals. A confirmed record of at least 40 documented deaths in the past 35 years has been recorded. A few years are yet to confirm. *That number does not take into account the deaths that went unreported or the countless animals that are routinely culled after every race.
They Deserve So Much Better! Sled dogs do not deserve to be left out in the Arctic elements in extreme sub-zero temperatures often for weeks and months at a time forced to sit on the end of a 4’ chain 24-7 in brutal minus -45 below temps with -55 windchills. They do not deserve to be run to death in -55 below temperatures where they choke to death on their own vomit and drown from pulmonary edema from sucking in frigid arctic air for hundreds of miles on end.
WRITE TO YUKON PREMIER SANDY SILVER! Sled dogs are living breathing sentient beings who feel love and joy and pain just like we do. We have no right to cause them even a second of pain. Let’s work together to end the heartless cruelty to these animals! WRITE TO YUKON PREMIER SANDY SILVER at Sandy.Silver@gov.yk.ca or call 867-393-7007 and tell him to STOP FUNDING this unethical event! Let’s shut this thing down before one more sled dog dies!
Remember Them! Remember 5-year old Joker the Sled Dog who died less than a year ago in the Yukon Quest when he choked to death on his own vomit; Remember 4-year old Boppy the Sled Dog who died the same way on February 9, 2018. Remember Firefly who died the year before and Polar who died the year before that. Remember the countless other dogs who were cruelly run to death in the Yukon Quest. *View the report detailing the appalling condition race vets allow sled dogs to run a 1,000 miles in. Boppy The Report
HOW MANY DOGS WILL DIE THIS YEAR? The 2020 1,000-mile Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race is scheduled to take off in Fairbanks on February 1st 2020. Over 40% of the mushers have already run at least one dog to death.
LET’S MAKE THIS A MORE HUMANE WORLD! Encourage your friends, family, students & co-workers to share this petition. MAKE A DONATION! With every donation you speak for those who have no voice and help to raise awareness of the desperate plight of the northern sled dogs. You can donate in honour of a loved one, a beloved pet, or in memory of the many sled dogs who have died in this cruel event.
The petition has been signed by a combined total of over 106,500 people from 167 countries on all 7 continents around the world. Let’s shoot that number up to 150,000 and let the Yukon Government know we are NOT going away! Let them know that the world is watching and the deliberate exploitation & abuse of defenseless animals will no longer be tolerated!
My new book “it’s howlin’ time!” is available at macsbooks.ca and also on Amazon. A section is dedicated to the plight of the northern sled dogs.
Thank you for your kind support! Say a prayer for the northern sled dogs. They deserve so much better. When you speak for those who have no voice your soul smiles.
“All life is sacred – anything that grows, anything that has a heartbeat.”
– pj johnson Poet Laureate of the Yukon
The below letter was sent to Premier Silver by Michelle Hayward and was also published in the Whitehorse Daily Star on January 24, 2020. It expresses how many of us feel about the plight of the Northern sled dogs. To date the premier has not responded to Ms. Hayward’s letter.
Dear Premier Sandy Silver,
Over 100,000 supporters from around the world have signed the petition below to express their disgust at the continuing government-supported abuse of sled dogs. We urge you to please end your financial support of the Yukon Quest with immediate effect- before this heinous event starts again on February 1st. https://www.change.org/p/the-yukon-government-premier-sled-dogs-are-being-run-to-death-and-maimed-for-life-in-deadly-1-000-mile-yukon-quest-race
1,000 miles is not an endurance test - it is an absolute guarantee of serious injury and/or death for these poor dogs who have no choice but to compete. These dogs don't 'love it'. They like to run -yes- but on their own terms; resting when THEY decide to - not when egotistical mushers see fit to do so.
Their bodies reveal the betrayal of their loyalty to selfish race participants. Blood is a common sight due to raw paws and stomach ulcers. Other common injuries include fluid on the lungs, fractures, tendon tears, dehydration, hypothermia and frostbite. This is far from the 'family-fun' image portrayed by the industry.
If any of our beloved family dogs - including huskies - were to deliberately have these injuries inflicted on them we would be understandably angry and upset. Yet this blatant abuse is deemed acceptable because of their breed and a psychopathic need to win!?
Despite their ability to withstand harsh temperatures, these dogs still long for human interaction and the creature comforts that are continuously denied them. They are either forced to work - pushed to their physical limits for the human ego, or grossly neglected on the end of a short chain, alone, often in extreme heat. Many are killed in despicable ways (drowning is a favorite method. Just ask Dave Olesen) to save out-of-season maintenance costs; with new pups taking the place of those broken by previous race abuse. The lack of compassion is palpable.
The 'tradition' of the Quest is so far from the truth it would be laughable if these dogs lives weren't at risk. It is so far removed from any First Nation traditions or the much-referenced 1925 serum run in which 150 sled dogs ran 674 miles in 5.5 days. Pictures show these dogs were loved and shared the glory of achieving the essential task they were given. Not one animal died - unlike the poor animals forced to run in Yukon, whereby 6 to 14 dogs run all 1,000 miles. With checkpoints some 200 miles at apart, any injured dogs are forced to endure horrific pain in harsh weather for days at a time before receiving any veterinary 'care'.
The only 'tradition' Yukon follows is that of continued animal abuse and greed. No true vet would ever attend these events. Those that do are on the gravy train - forcing them to continue running with frostbite in temperatures of -40 degrees. Their presence fools the public and allows mushers to claim their dogs are in good health.
Canada is woefully behind the rest of the western world when it comes to animal welfare; which is why Yukon continues to exist. Needless to say, as a potential tourist, I will never come to Yukon to watch a sled race. I will advise others to also boycott the area and the 'sport'.
Many locals share the views of Yukon Poet Laureate pj johnson. It is grossly unfair that taxpayers are forced to fund this abuse against their will. Please reconsider your donations to this dog-destroying event and take a stand for these beautiful animals.
I await your response with the utmost concern.
Yours sincerely, Michelle Hayward
Bedford, BedfordshireUnited Kingdom
*By making a donation to this petition you give others an opportunity to sign and share it. Every $20 will advertise this petition 500 extra times on Change.org and all contributions over $25 will be doubled! Impression Calculation: $20 will advertise this petition 500 extra times to new supporters. So a donation of $26 will reach 1,000 new supporters.