Colfax Marathon Runners to Be Met With Footage of Dogs Forced to Race in Iditarod

For Immediate Release:
May 16, 2024

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

When runners reach the finish line of Sunday’s Colfax Marathon, they’ll be met with an unsettling sight from PETA: a giant mobile billboard playing video footage of dogs chained in the bitter cold at Iditarod competitors’ kennels as well as a graphic image on the back of the vehicle calling on locally headquartered Liberty Media to end its sponsorship of the cruel race, in which more than 150 dogs have died. During this year’s Iditarod, three young dogs collapsed and died on the trail within about 48 hours of one another. Five dogs died and eight others were injured during training for this year’s event, and more than 200 who started the race were too ill, exhausted, or injured to finish.

When: Sunday, May 19, 11 a.m.

Where: Near the Colfax Marathon finish line, City Park, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver

“Human runners race by choice, but dogs in the Iditarod are forced to run about four marathons a day for up to two weeks through snow and ice until their paws bleed and their bodies break down,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on Liberty Media to stop funding this despicable cruelty and drop its sponsorship of the Iditarod now.”

Alaska Airlines, ExxonMobil, Wells Fargo, and many other companies have cut ties with the Iditarod after learning from PETA how dogs suffer and die because of the race—but Liberty Media subsidiary GCI, an internet service provider, is still sponsoring the notorious event to the tune of more than $250,000 every year.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.