Dear :

I am very upset to learn that [name of company] is promoting the Iditarod.

In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles over a grueling terrain in 9 to 14 days, which is the approximate distance between Orlando and New York. Dog deaths and injuries are common in the race.

In almost all of the 29 Iditarod races, at least one dog death has occurred. The first race is reported to have resulted in the deaths of 15 to 19 dogs. In 1997, the Anchorage Daily News, which is a strong supporter of the race, admitted that "at least 107 (dogs) have died." Since that report, ten more dogs have died in the Iditarod, bringing the grand total of dogs who have died in the Iditarod to at least 117. There is no official count of dog deaths available for the race's early years and this count relies only on a reported number of deaths.

Causes of death have included strangulation in towlines, internal hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a condition in which a dog's muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also occurred.

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, "I heard one highly respected (sled dog) driver once state that "‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "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...A whip is a very humane training tool."

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies. Dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, are killed with a shot to the head. Dogs are skinned for their fur, which is then used on mittens and parkas.

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website http://www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures and for more information. I strongly urge you to stop promoting this cruel "sport."

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

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