ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Two dogs died over the weekend during Alaska’s annual Iditarod sled dog race, marking the first deaths during the race in five years and renewing calls to end the 1,000-mile competition that sees mushers and their canine teams traverse mountain ranges, a frozen river and sea ice — often during treacherous weather.
Bog, a 2-year-old male on musher Issac Teaford’s team, collapsed Sunday morning about 200 feet short of the checkpoint in the village of Nulato, a former Russian trading post located 582 miles into the race across the Alaska wilderness. He died despite a veterinarian performing CPR for about 20 minutes.
A second dog, George, a 4-year-old male on musher Hunter Keefe’s team, also collapsed and died despite attempts to revive him, a race statement said.
George died on the trail about 35 miles outside of the village of Kaltag, which is 629 miles into the race.
A necropsy did not determine a cause of death for Bog, and the Iditarod said further testing will be conducted. A necropsy on George will also be conducted.
Keefe, of Knik, and Teaford, of Salt Lake City, both voluntarily quit the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Sunday. Under the race rules, they risked being withdrawn by the race marshal otherwise.
The last dog to die during the annual race was Oshi, a 5-year-old female on musher Richie Beattie’s team, in 2019. At a post-race checkup, veterinarians found signs of pneumonia in the dog. She was flown to Anchorage for care but later died.
Both Keefe and Teaford are fairly inexperienced in running the Iditarod, one of the world’s longest sled dog races. Teaford is a rookie and Keefe was in his second race after finishing 11th last year.
The dogs’ deaths on Sunday prompted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, long the Iditarod’s biggest critic, to call for race’s end.
“The death count keeps climbing for dogs who are forced to run until their bodies break down, all so the human winner can get a trophy while the…
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