Liberty Media’s Iditarod-Supporting CEO Gets an Appeal From PETA Protesters
On the morning of May 1, a heavy security presence at the Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in California didn’t stop PETA supporters from crashing Liberty Media Corporation CEO Greg Maffei’s invitation-only breakfast talk. The protesters delivered a heartfelt appeal that he end his company’s support of the deadly Iditarod, a grueling 1,000-mile dog-sled race in Alaska in which more than 150 dogs have died.
Later, on May 4, PETA supporters addressed Maffei again, this time at the F1 Accelerate Summit at the Rubell Museum in Miami. They issued another plea in behalf of all the dogs who suffer for the Iditarod.
The Iditarod Is a Death Race for Dogs
The leading cause of death for dogs in the Iditarod is aspiration pneumonia—caused by inhaling their own vomit. The race’s official death toll doesn’t even include countless other dogs who have been killed simply for not being fast enough or who have died during the off-season while chained next to dilapidated boxes or plastic barrels in the bitter cold, a practice exposed in a PETA undercover investigation.
During the 2023 Iditarod—which had the fewest number of human participants (mushers) in the event’s history—approximately 175 dogs were pulled off the trail due to exhaustion, illness, injury, or other causes, leaving the remaining ones to work even harder. The race ended in controversy after the winner was caught on video dragging exhausted dogs toward a checkpoint.
Help PETA Reach the Finish Line: Urge Liberty Media to Drop the Iditarod
After hearing from PETA and over 40,000 of our supporters, Cue Health and Greenbrook TMS made the compassionate decision to stop sponsoring the cruel Iditarod ahead of the 2023 race. Dozens of other companies—including Alaska Airlines, Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Jack Daniel’s, Wells Fargo, ExxonMobil, and Millennium Hotels and Resorts—have all cut ties with the Iditarod after learning from PETA how dogs suffer and die because of the race, but Liberty subsidiary GCI, an internet service provider, is still sponsoring the notorious event to the tune of more than $250,000 every year.
