ALERT! World Wildlife Fund hypes Iditarod, sponsors musher - WRITE

February 29, 2008

Please send protest emails and forward this alert.

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

Contact information, emails and sample letter are below.

In its February 29 press release, the World Wildlife Fund announced that it's sponsoring Iditarod race winner Martin Buser in the 2008 Iditarod. The World Wildlife Fund claims that Buser loves and cares about his dogs. But one of Buser's dogs died in the Iditarod from "internal hemorrhage." Buser holds the speed record in the race. A newspaper reported that he "wants to accelerate the pace even more." To read the World Wildlife Fund release: http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=125880

Please send protest emails to the World Wildlife Fund:

plannedgiving, kerry.zobor, lee.poston, monica.echeverria, amanda.carufel, kathleen.sullivan, erika.viltz, trishna.gurung

Sample letter:

Dear National Wildlife Fund:

Please end your organization's support Martin Buser and the Iditarod dog sled race. For the dogs, this event is a bottomless pit of suffering. What happens to the dogs during the Iditarod includes death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding ulcers, bloody diarrhea, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, broken bones, torn muscles and tendons, sprains, torn footpads and anemia. One of Buser's dogs died in the Iditarod from "internal hemorrhage." At least 133 dogs have died in the race. No one knows how many dogs die after this tortuous ordeal or during training. For more facts about the Iditarod, visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website, http://www.helpsleddogs.org .

On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not make it across the finish line. According to a report published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, of those who do finish, 81 percent have lung damage. A report published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that 61 percent of the dogs who complete the Iditarod have ulcers versus zero percent pre-race.

Iditarod dog kennels are puppy mills. Mushers breed large numbers of dogs and routinely kill unwanted ones, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived their usefulness, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged, drowned or clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote former Iditarod dog handler Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper.

Dog beatings and whippings are common. During the 2007 Iditarod, eyewitnesses reported that musher Ramy Brooks kicked, punched and beat his dogs with a ski pole and a chain. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, "Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective.It is a common training device in use among dog mushers..."

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or dragging them to their death."

During the race, veterinarians do not give the dogs physical exams at every checkpoint. Mushers speed through many checkpoints, so the dogs get the briefest visual checks, if that. Instead of pulling sick dogs from the race, veterinarians frequently give them massive doses of antibiotics to keep them running.

Most Iditarod dogs are forced to live at the end of a chain when they aren't hauling people around. It has been reported that dogs who don't make the main team are never taken off-chain. Chained dogs have been attacked by wolves, bears and other animals. Old and arthritic dogs suffer terrible pain in the blistering cold.

Please end your organization's association with this horrific race and Martin Buser.

Sincerely,

Please send protest emails to the other Iditarod supporters. The contact information for them can be found on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm

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