PETA Statement: Death of Dog Used in Iditarod

For Immediate Release:
March 17, 2019

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Below, please find a statement from PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in response to the death of Oshi, a dog who died of aspiration pneumonia—the leading cause of death for dogs who don’t survive the Iditarod—after finishing the race:

Oshi was just like any family’s dog, but the Iditarod forced her to run until she choked to death on her own vomit, just like so many dogs before her. Of those who survive, 81 percent are left with lung damage and 61 percent with gastric ulcers. PETA is demanding a full veterinary evaluation of every single dog who was used in the 2019 Iditarod, including the 232 who were pulled from the race, so that the public can see how mushers’ pursuit of the prize purse under the pretense of loving these dogs shows a complete lack of concern in pushing them to and beyond their limits. If this had happened to human athletes, people would be in jail.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” and the group opposes speciesism, a supremacist worldview. More information about the campaign against the Iditarod is available on PETA’s website.