PETA Statement: Iditarod ‘Win’ Deserves Condemnation, Not Celebration

For Immediate Release:
March 15, 2021

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Deshka Landing, Alaska –

Below, please find a statement from PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien in response to Dallas Seavey winning the 2021 Iditarod this morning:

Seavey’s record of animal misuse is as long as the Iditarod trail: He left behind four dogs he pushed beyond the breaking point during the race, dogs he has raced have tested positive for opioids, his kennel was accused of killing dogs who didn’t make the grade, and a whistleblower reported finding dying puppies on his property. Given that at least 150 presumably exhausted, injured, or ill dogs have been pulled from the Iditarod so far; a lame dog was apparently forced to continue racing; and PETA’s warning about COVID-19 has come true, any musher who crosses the finish line of this reckless spectacle merits being ostracized, not given accolades.

ExxonMobil, a major Iditarod sponsor giving $250,000 a year, recently confirmed that 2021 is the last year it will support the race. It joins Jack Daniel’s, Coca-Cola, Chrysler, Wells Fargo, Alaska Airlines, State Farm, and many other companies that have ended their support of the Iditarod after hearing from PETA, which is calling on Millennium Hotels and Resorts to follow suit.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.