PETA Statement: Third Dog Dies During 2015 Iditarod

For Immediate Release:
March 23, 2015

Contact:
Alexis Sadoti 202-483-7382

Over the years, dogs forced to endure the Iditarod have died of heart failure, exposure, pneumonia, drowning, and asphyxiation, as well as in other horrible ways. Last week, after one dog was killed by a car and another dropped dead on the trail, PETA called for an end to the Iditarod—and now, yet another dog’s life has been snuffed out in this exploitative race. The Iditarod is not in the dogs’ best interests: It is for profit. There should be a thorough investigation into the reasons why not one but two dogs died on Lance Mackey’s team this year, and this shamelessly cruel event must be stopped before more dogs are injured, run to death, or killed in other ways.

— Martin Mersereau, Senior Director of PETA’s Emergency Response Team