Iditarod team stops racing after musher yells at one dog

5
14
dogs quit running in Iditarod
Spread the love

The dog team who was leading the pack in Alaska’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race lost their position after the team went on a canine strike following a yelling incident. As reported by the Associated Press, Nicolas Petit’s team refused to continue running on Monday morning after he yelled at a dog named Joey who had instigated a fight.

Petit explained what happened to the Iditarod Insider,

“I yelled at Joey, and everybody heard the yelling, and that doesn’t happen, and then they wouldn’t go anymore. Anywhere. So we camped here.”

According to Petit, the dogs are healthy and well-fed, but hearing a teammate get into trouble, got into their head. He expressed hope that seeing other teams run past would inspire his dogs to start running again.

PETA doesn’t agree with the musher – in a statement, PETA executive vice president Tracy Reiman voice disdain for the race:

It’s not the dogs who need to have their heads examined — it’s anyone who supports this merciless race. Illness, injury, or fatigue likely prompted Nicolas Petit to drop four dogs from his team, forcing the remaining 10 to work even harder before they gave up altogether, which he blamed on ‘just a head thing,'”

What do you think? Is the Iditarod race cruel, or is it a sport like any other, providing highly trained canine athletes the opportunity to show their stuff? Feel free to comment below.

(Image via Pixabay)

Yesterday: Woman arrested after starved dogs found in her apartment – more here.



Spread the love

5 COMMENTS

  1. I used to think the Iditarod was cool. I also used to like zoos and circuses as well as horse racing and rodeos. Now, I detest them. It’s all about human greed and/or pleasure. The animals suffer and it’s WRONG.

  2. Please contact EVERY ORGANIZATION POSSIBLE to stop this CRUEL INHUMANE event. These organizations include Change.org, Care2, Animal Petitions, ForceChange, International Humane Society of the United States and
    United States Humane Society, among others.

  3. PETA is the biggest danger to domesticated dogs and ownership of pets. All breeds were bred for a purpose. Sled dogs, guard dogs, herding dogs. They’re NOT “fur babies”. These are serious working dogs and, having worked with dogs, having done rescue, I guarantee that one of the reasons a lot of dogs like these find themselves in rescue or in a shelter, are for behavioral issues because all too many people have no clue what a working dog mentality is all about. Working dogs need working outlets for not only their bodies, but their minds. PETA is a threat to dog ownership. Doing away with venues like the Iditarod will also erase the need, in many cases, for the dogs bred to do this sort work. And at every victory, these a-holes are high -fiving themselves for chipping away at the best deal mankind ever got – when the first wolf and human joined in partnership all those eons ago. I, for one, will fight any effort to break this union of man and dog. Leave the Iditarod alone.

    • Well said, I couldn’t agree with you more. I feel the same about the Military and Police dogs that provide a service. Taking away the dog’s ability to “work” is what is cruel.

  4. I find this kind of funny, dogs going on strike because one got yelled at. Who says humans are the intelligent ones?

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here