Petition update
NORTHERN SLED DOGS STILL BEING EXPLOITED & RUN TO DEATH!
May 26, 2022 —
Greetings from the Yukon and thank you for your support!
Unfortunately sled dogs continue to be exploited, abused, and run to death here in the North, mainly because there are no laws to protect them. In other words running a sled dog to death is legal.
Furthermore online petitions such as this one are not allowed to be tabled in the Yukon legislature. Consequently sled dog abuse is conveniently ignored by the legislators. Catch-22.
The above video highlights the importance of referring to animals as ‘someone’ rather than ‘something’. Animals must be recognized as sentient beings in order to elevate their status from property to persons and gain more effective laws to protect them. Nonhumans deserve the same basic rights as we do.
NORTHERN SLED DOGS NEWS & UPDATES:
On February 23 2022 I met with Yukon Member of Parliament Brendan Hanley regarding the continued abuse of Northern sled dogs and the lack of effective legislation to protect them. The meeting was brief with a plan to further address the issue at a subsequent meeting.
February 5 2022: CTV W5 Program “Uncovering the shocking treatment of sled dogs in Canada" on W5. W5
February 26 2022: A recap of this year’s Yukon Quest 1,000-mile Sled Dog Race. Recap Quest 2022
March 28 2022: CBS News “Mushers Penalized by Iditarod for Sheltering Dogs in Storm.” *Author's Note: All of a sudden it’s about safety of the dogs!
May 3 2022: CBC North – “YUKON QUEST HEADS FOR INTERNATIONAL DIVORCE IN DISPUTE OVER DOG CARE.” *Author's Note: – Dog care? If they truly cared about the welfare of their dogs they wouldn’t force them to endure a brutal thousand-mile race that’s killed hundreds of sled dogs! Divorce
May 03 2022: From Yukon Quest Website: “Yukon Quest International Association (Canada) disappointed in Alaskan decision.” *Author’s Note: Sled dogs are not ‘canine athletes’. An athlete can decide whether or not to enter a sports event. The dogs are not given a choice. They are forced.
“CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF RACING DOGS TO DEATH” - The Iditarod 2022
Before The Race: February 2022 Four dogs severely injured while being forced to train when a large bull moose spent more than an hour stomping on the sled dog team of rookie musher Bridgett Watkins. Also a team run by musher Jaye Foucher was hit by a truck killing one of them, injuring others and causing another dog to go missing. Moose Attack
March 13 2022: Leon, a dog used by rookie musher Sébastien Borges went missing on the trail during the Iditarod. After the race Borges returned to France saying ‘they would keep looking for the dog’. *Author's Note: Leon is still missing and presumed dead.
March 29 2022: CBS News: “Three mushers penalized in the 2022 Iditarod for sheltering dogs indoors as a dangerous windstorm raged outside with high winds of 80 to 95 kmh raged.” *Author’s Note: Official Iditarod rules encourage mushers to let them suffer or die if they want to place high and earn more prize money. Clearly the animals are treated like objects. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iditarod-mushers-penalized-sheltering-dogs-mille-porsild-michelle-phillips-riley-dyche/
THE DEATH TOLL IS MASSIVE! The deaths of many sled dogs go unreported and are routinely hidden from the public. Some dogs freeze to death at check stops, others are abandoned on the trail, some are pulled from the race and later die of their injuries. Many are routinely killed (culled) after the race so that the owners don’t have to incur the cost of maintaining them off-season. They need help!
Thank you for standing with us to protect the Northern sled dogs. They desperately need us to speak for them. Please continue to share this important petition with friends and family so our collective voices reach authorities. Let's get this number up to 150,000!
People tend to forget about the sled dogs during the summer but they’re out there sitting on the end of a 4’ chain wearing thick fur coats under the sweltering heat of the blazing midnight sun. You can make a big difference and help to create awareness by making a donation to support this petition. Even a small donation can make a big difference!
“Animals do not belong in cages, in tanks, caught in the jaws of a steel trap, or run to death in cruel races. They are living breathing sentient beings who feel love, joy, pain and fear just like we do. We have no right to cause them even a second of pain.” – PJ Yukon Poet Laureate
Website PJ Yukon Poet Laureate
“dogs are someone” Dogs Are Someone
“because i am a sled dog” because i am a sled dog
In closing, a few excerpts from Iditarod 2022 via peta:
Missing and Abandoned Dogs Who Die Alone in the Wilderness. Animal abuse deaths & chaos. Dogs chained up in the freezing cold. Mushers dragging dogs and heaving them into tiny crates.
· Nearly 250 dogs pulled off the trail due to exhaustion, illness, injury, or other causes, forcing the remaining dogs to work harder to pull mushers.
· Iditarod “winner” Brent Sass who ran dogs to death in other races, chains his dogs to wooden boxes and plastic barrels in the frigid cold. Left behind three dogs who could go no farther and shared a disturbing video of dogs covered in snow and ice in the blistering wind with their faces “totally entrenched in snow” and their eyes “all frozen shut.” He once pushed his dogs so far beyond their breaking point he had to call for a rescue. Brent Sass sled dog abuse
· Musher Hugh Neff quit after forcing dogs to race described as “skinny” and suffering from diarrhea found in such bad condition they couldn’t continue. Neff was banned from the Yukon Quest in 2019 race after running a 5 year old sled dog named Boppy to death in minus -55 below.
· Notorious musher Dallas Seavey whose dogs have tested positive for opioids, operates a kennel accused of killing dogs who didn’t make the grade and owns property where a whistleblower reported finding dying puppies. Seavey admitted that during the first half of the 2022 race his dogs were suffering from diarrhea. Several of his dogs had to be pulled off the trail because of injuries.
· More than 150 dogs have died in the Iditarod since it began. This year two dogs went missing, a musher was disqualified after his dogs were found in poor condition and nearly 250 dogs were pulled off the trail due to exhaustion, illness or injury. The Iditarod must end for the sake of the dogs who are being injured, chained, and worked to the bone.
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