UPDATE: The 2026 Yukon Quest sled dog race has been cancelled. However the 1,000-mile Iditarod sled dog race starts soon. Last March a pregnant female named Ventana collapsed on the trail and died during the Iditarod - her puppies still in her belly. 

This petition has been signed by 151,066 people yet the Yukon Government continues to ignore the worldwide backlash and continues to fund the Yukon Quest. I have copies of 26,000 angry comments that have been posted on this petition imploring the Yukon Government to stop funding a race that kills , maims, and injures animals. I will soon be posting some of those comments online. Our voices need to be heard. The dogs cannot speak for themselves. 

Those who sponsor long distance sled dog races are promoting animal abuse.

*An interesting aside: A road in Whitehorse was recently named ‘Iditarod Drive’. There’s no way I would want to live on a road named for a race that's killed, maimed, and abused hundreds of innocent sled dogs!

I wrote the poem “because i am a sled dog” in memory of over 40 dogs who have died during the Yukon Quest including Boppy the Sled Dog who was run to death in minus -55 degrees near Dawson City Yukon on February 11 2019. 

Also in memory of hundreds of dogs who have died in the 1,000-mile Iditarod sled dog race including 4-year-old pregnant female named Ventana who collapsed and died on the trail on March 6, 2025. Run to death during the Iditarod - her puppies still in her belly 

This poem has been translated into many languages and presented at international events around the world. It is a poem about life seen through the eyes of a Northern sled dog a poem written by PJ Yukon Poet Laureate on March 6th 2017 2017.

Life through the eyes of a Northern sled dog a poem by PJ Yukon Poet Laureate 

“because i am a sled dog” 

because i am a sled dog 
i have no voice
i can only speak to you
with my eyes
with my bark
and with the wagging of my tail

if i could talk to you 
i would tell you that i worship you
and that my only wish 
is to be with you 
to be loved and adored 
and to be wanted for who i am 

i would tell you 
i am a living breathing being
much like you
that feels love and joy and pain 
and if i could only speak to you in words 
i would tell you all these things 

i would tell you i am here
to do your bidding 
even if that means running a thousand miles
in a brutal race i didn’t choose to run 
even if it means 
i might suffer and die

for you are my world
my greatest joy 
and i only live to please you 
i would protect you with my life 
if you asked me to
all i ask in return
is that you love me back

because i am a sled dog

©PJ Yukon Poet Laureate March 6th 2017