PLEASE CROSSPOST

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

Rachael Scdoris, the legally blind woman who raced in the 2005
Iditarod, will be grand marshal of the Starlight Parade presented by
Southwest Airlines, according to an announcement made by the Portland
Rose Festival. People who participate in Iditarod brutalities don't
deserve honors.

Four dogs died in the 2005 Iditarod and countless others became sick
and were injured. Scdoris' own dogs caught a virus with accompanying
diarrhea and refused to eat.

On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not make it
across the finish line. According to a report published in the
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, of those
who do cross, 81 percent have lung damage. A report published in the
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that 61 percent of the
dogs who finish the Iditarod have ulcers versus zero percent pre-race.

Ask the Portland Rose Festival and Southwest Airlines to pick another
parade marshal.

EMAIL: info@..., editors@...,
kim.wren@..., dan.mckee@...

SAMPLE LETTER TO PERSONALIZE:

Dear Mr. Buttice, Ms. Bladow and Mr. Kelly:

I understand the Starlight Parade presented by Southwest Airlines
will feature Rachael Scdoris, the legally blind woman who
participated in the Iditarod. By selecting Scdoris, you are
supporting and promoting this horrific race and the many evils
associated with it. Please find another grand marshal for the
Starlight Parade.

In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles, which is the
approximate distance between Portland and Bismarck, ND, over a
grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days. USA Today sports columnist Jon
Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions"
and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-
dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz said the race
is "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist
Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org and be sure to read the quotes on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm . All the material on the
site is true and verifiable.

At least 126 dogs have died in the Iditarod, including four who died
in 2005 race. There is no official count of dog deaths available for
the race's early years. Here's a short list of what happens to the
dogs during the race: death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding
ulcers, broken bones, pneumonia, ruptured discs, hypothermia, broken
teeth, viral diseases, torn footpads and lung damage. Scdoris' own
dogs caught a virus with accompanying diarrhea and refused to eat.

On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not make it
across the finish line. According to a report published in the
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, of those
who do cross, 81 percent have lung damage. A report published in the
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that 61 percent of the
dogs who finish the Iditarod have ulcers versus zero percent pre-race.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over
40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper
into their ears, 'OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the
devil.' They understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten
into submission the same way elephants are trained for a circus. The
mushers will deny it. And you know what? They are all lying." -USA
Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including
puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or
who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived
their usefulness are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or
clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they
don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike
Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March,
2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He
[Colonel
Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs
to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to
make mittens. Or dragging them to their death."

Please stop supporting and promoting this barbaric race. Please do
not honor Scdoris by having her as your grand marshal.

Sincerely,

EMAIL ALL IDITAROD SUPPORTERS:
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm

PLEASE CROSSPOST FAR AND WIDE

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

National Public Radio (NPR) is promoting Rachael Scdoris, a blind
woman who is mushing in the 2005 Iditarod dog sled race. NPR's
website (npr.org) has links to her website, and to the Iditarod's
website and webcam. Their interview with Scdoris did not mention that
the dogs suffer, and it is not stated on the NPR website.

Here's a short list of what happens to the dogs during the race:
death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding ulcers, broken bones,
pneumonia, ruptured discs, hypothermia, broken teeth, viral diseases,
torn footpads and lung damage.

Stories about the dogs receiving top-notch health care don't square
with the facts. Dogs are often sick before the Iditarod starts but
are made to race anyway. While some sick dogs are dropped during the
race, others are given massive doses of antibiotics to keep them
going.

Please ask NPR to stop promoting the Iditarod with the many evils
associated with it.

EMAIL: ombudsman@..., lbremner@..., jking@...

WRITE TO ALL IDITAROD SUPPORTERS:

Below is a list of organizations that are 2005 Iditarod race
sponsors, musher sponsors or Iditarod promoters. Emails are first
given in block form and then individually under the sample letter.
Email addresses with semi-colons in block form can be found on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm on the bottom of the page.

BLOCK EMAILS:

martink@..., jhallin@..., info@...,
investorrelations@..., deknutson@...,
Shareholders.IM@..., jhong@...,
investor.relations@..., contact.privacy@...,
tim_fitzpatrick@..., alfred.j.modugno@...,
gmorgenstern@..., wford@..., john.devine@...,
david@..., abuckelew@...,
wmcalduff@..., Amy.Sherwood@...,
ombudsman@..., lbremner@..., jking@...,
Chris.B.Ahearn@..., Jgilbert@..., myer@...,
jmenaker@..., alice.nathanson@...,
klane@..., mboyter@...,
brad.bodenman@..., ir.dcx@...,
heyer@..., NewsOutback@..., info@...,
investorrelations@..., marketing@...,
chris.jones@..., kroger.investors@...,
gisx@..., ssolomon@...,
pubaffmr@..., today@...,
enterprise.comments@..., leo.kiely@...,
amy_banse@..., chendricks@...,
employment@..., bob.dotson@...,
investor_relations@..., atpinfo@...,
Customer.Service@..., sales@..., info@...,
jdc@..., info@..., info@...,
barsenault@..., international@...,
info@..., redpaw@...,
gene@..., steve.yager@...,
sales@..., info@..., feedback@...,
webmaster@..., investorrelations@...,
sdougherty@..., rstewart@..., info@...,
MarkS@..., wilderinfo@...,
publicaffairs@..., feedback@...,
dawn.mccall@..., viewer@..., jmoses@...,
gunter.thielen@..., polson@...,
mspring@..., ecousens@..., jsisk@...,
sdisney@..., mgoad@...,
info@..., info@..., STEVESI@...,
rick@..., pat@..., sales@...,
franchising@..., rputney@..., info@multi-
pak.com, info@..., contact@...,
beaversports@..., info@...,
bill@..., ragnar.evensen@...,
wear@..., HCC19@..., scottz@...,
ir@..., wosport@..., info@...,
editor_1@..., presse@...,
chad.haight@..., jobs@...,
marilyn.ducksworth@..., mstewart@...,
emailbag@..., leepinliz@...,
juneymoon@..., Solutions@...,
sales@..., windigo@..., info@...,
alliage.com@..., leonce@...,
careers@...

PLEASE PERSONALIZE SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear

Please stop supporting the barbaric Iditarod with all the evils
associated with it.

Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced
to run 1,150 miles, which is the approximate distance between Dallas
and Cleveland over a grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days. USA Today
sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of
grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome
called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George
Diaz said the race is "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today
business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-
relations minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org and be sure to read the quotes on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm . All the material on the
site is true and verifiable.

At least 122 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official
count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. Here's a short list
of what happens to the dogs during the race: death, paralysis, penile
frostbite, bleeding ulcers, broken bones, pneumonia, ruptured discs,
hypothermia, broken teeth, viral diseases, torn footpads and lung
damage.

On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not even
make it across
the finish line. Of those that finish, 81 percent have lung damage.
No one knows how many dogs die in training or after the race. A
report published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said
that 48.5 percent of the dogs who participate in the Iditarod have
ulceration, tissue erosion, gastric hemorrhage, or a combination of
these conditions.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over
40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper
into their ears, 'OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the
devil.' They understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten
into submission the same way elephants are trained for a circus. The
mushers will deny it. And you know what? They are all lying." -USA
Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including
puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or
who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived
their usefulness are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or
clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they
don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike
Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March,
2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He
[Colonel
Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs
to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to
make mittens. Or dragging them to their death."

Please end your organization's association with this horrific race.

Sincerely,

IDITAROD SPONSORS:

Fort Dodge Animal Health (Wyeth)
Email: martink@...

Daimler Chrysler
Email: ir.dcx@...

Coca-Cola
Email: heyer@...

Outback Steakhouse
Email NewsOutback@...

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels
Email: marketing@...

Wells Fargo & Company
Email:investorrelations@...

Kroger Co. (Fred Meyer Stores)
Email: kroger.investors@...

Spenard Builders (Lanoga Corporation)
Email: ssolomon@...

Office Tech (Global Imaging Systems, Inc.)
Email: gisx@...

ChevronTexaco Corportation
Email: pubaffmr@...

Exxon Mobil Corporation
Email: enterprise.comments@...

Coors Brewing Company
Email: leo.kiely@...

Anchorage Daily News (Mc Clatchy Company)
Email: ptalamantes@...

Providence Health System
Email: employment@...

Cabelas
Email: Customer.Service@...

Global Information Technologies
Email: sales@...

Alaska Airlines (Alaska Air Group)
Email: ir@...

Too Far Publishing
Email: info@...

IDITAROD PROMOTERS

Outdoor Life Network (Comcast Corp.)
Email: feedback@..., amy_banse@...,
tim_fitzpatrick@...

Workman Publishing Company
Email: info@...

Carnival Corporation (Princess Cruises)
Email: abuckelew@..., careers@...

Scholastic Corporation
Email: investor_relations@...

Today Show
Email: Email: today@..., bob.dotson@...

Travel Channel (Discovery Networks)
Email: dawn.mccall@...

PBS Teacher Source
Email: viewer@...

Elderhostel, Inc.
Email: jmoses@...

Fodor's Travel Publications (Random House, Bertelsmann)
Email: editors@..., polson@...,
gunter.thielen@...

Frommer's Guides (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030
Email: wpesce@..., mspring@...

Avalon Travel Publications
Email: atpinfo@...

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Email: jsisk@...

Petplace.com (Intelligent Content, Corp.)
Email: scottz@...

TIME for Kids
Email: emailbag@...

Women's Sports Foundation
Email: wosport@...

Academy of Achievement
Email: editor_1@...

Insight Guides (APA Publications/Langenscheidt Publications)
Email: presse@...

Sasquatch Books
Email: chad.haight@...

Rough Guides (The Penguin Group)
Email: Marilyn.ducksworth@..., jobs@...

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.
Email: mstewart@...

Wilmington Public School Superintendent
Email: wmcalduff@...

Highsmith, Inc.
Email: dealersales@...

The Westminster Kennel Club
Email: david@...

Pedigree Dog Food (Mars, Inc.)
Email: jmenaker@..., alice.nathanson@...,
chris.jones@...

The Weather Channel
Email: klane@..., mboyter@...

National Public Radio
Email: ombudsman@..., lbremner@..., jking@...


MUSHER SPONSORS:

Stancorp Financial Group, Inc.
Email: jhallin@... , info@...

Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
Email: investorrelations@...

Eukanuba/Iams (Procter & Gamble Company)
Email: Shareholders.IM@...

Hanons/Safeway (Safeway, Inc.)
Email: jhong@...

Blockbuster Video
Email: investor.relations@...

McDonalds Restaurants of the Kenai Peninsula (McDonald Corporation)
Email: contact.privacy@...

Marsh USA (Marsh & McLennan Companies)
Email: alfred.j.modugno@...

AT&T Alascom (AT&T)
Email: gmorgenstern@...

PMI Nutrition Pet Foods (Purina Mills/Land O'Lakes, Inc.)
Email: deknutson@...

Ford Motor Company
Email: wford@...

General Motors
Email: john.devine@...

Taco Bell/Denali Foods (Franchisor: Yum! Brands, Inc.)
Email: Amy.Sherwood@...

Lowe's Home Improvement (Lowe's Companies, Inc.)
Email: Chris.B.Ahearn@...

UGI Corporation (AmeriGas)
Email: strategicaccounts@...

Northern Outfitters
Email: mail@...

Udelhoven Companies (Udelhoven Oilfield System)
Email: Jgilbert@...

Patrick Henry Creative Promotions
Email: myer@...

American Seafoods Group
Email: brad.bodenman@...

Annamaet Petfoods
Email: info@...

Eagle Premium Pet Foods/Eagle Pet Products, Inc.
Email: jdc@...

Breg, Inc.
Email: info@...

Dogbooties.com (a division of Arrowhead Fabric)
Email: info@...

Grabber Performance Group
Email: international@...

Blackwood Dog Food (The Blackwood Corporation)
Email: info@...

Redpaw Feeds
Email: redpaw@...

Fogtech
Email: gene@...

Oak View Elementary School
Email: steve.yager@...

Edmund Industrial Optics
Email: sales@...

American Dehydrated Foods, Inc.
Email: info@...

Atta Boy (American Nutrition, Inc.)
Email: feedback@...

Arctic Cat Inc.
Email: webmaster@...

Gander Mountain
Email: investorrelations@...

Cirrus Design Corporation
Email: sdougherty@...

Borton Automotive, Inc.
Email: rstewart@...

WHSmith and Sons, Ltd.
Email: info@...

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
Email: publicaffairs@...

Icicle Seafoods, Inc.
Email: MarkS@...


Wilder Construction Company
Email: wilderinfo@...

Thomas Jefferson Middle School
Email: sdisney@...

Patrick McGaheran School
Email: mgoad@...

D.H. Blattner & Sons, Inc.
Email: info@...

Adventure Unlimited Ranches
Email: info@...

Longfellow Elementary School
Email: STEVESI@...

United Railroad Materials Company
Email: rick@...

Senior Sojourns, Inc.
Email: Pat@...

Ophir Gold Ltd.
Email: sales@...

Batteries Plus
Email: franchising@...

Grossman Chevrolet
Email: rputney@...

Multi-Pak Corporation
Email: info@...

Royal Canin USA, Inc.
Email: info@... , alliage.com@...

Pro Pac Pet Food (Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. )
Email: contact@...

Beaver Sports
Email: beaversports@...

Montana Travel
Email: info@...

Bill Hanson, Attorney
Email: bill@...

AF Ragnar Evensen AS
Email: ragnar.evensen@...

Wolfsong Wear
Email: wear@...

Historical Chocolate Company
Email: HCC19@...

LeepinLiz Designs
Email: leepinliz@...

June Shelley
Email: juneymoon@...

Reflective "Puppy Parkas"
Email: Solutions@...

Innisbrook Wraps
Email: sales@...

Windigo Outfitters in Iron River
Email: windigo@...

Cold Spot Feeds
Email: info@...

The Ungar Foundation
P.O. Box 752
Copake, NY 12516

Harry L. McGinnis Middle School
17 Atther Road Buena Vista, CO
80345 Phone: 719-395-7060

Amaize (Marsland Laboratories)Email message box:
http://www.amaize.com/dealer_inq.htm

PLEASE CROSSPOST FAR AND WIDE

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

National Public Radio (NPR) is promoting Rachael Scdoris, a blind
woman who is mushing in the 2005 Iditarod dog sled race. NPR's
website (npr.org) has links to her website, and to the Iditarod's
website and webcam. Their interview with Scdoris did not mention that
the dogs suffer, and it is not stated on the NPR website.

Here's a short list of what happens to the dogs during the race:
death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding ulcers, broken bones,
pneumonia, ruptured discs, hypothermia, broken teeth, viral diseases,
torn footpads and lung damage.

Stories about the dogs receiving top-notch health care don't square
with the facts. Dogs are often sick before the Iditarod starts but
are made to race anyway. While some sick dogs are dropped during the
race, others are given massive doses of antibiotics to keep them
going.

Please ask NPR to stop promoting the Iditarod with the many evils
associated with it.

EMAIL: ombudsman@..., lbremner@..., jking@...

WRITE TO ALL IDITAROD SUPPORTERS:

Below is a list of organizations that are 2005 Iditarod race
sponsors, musher sponsors or Iditarod promoters. Emails are first
given in block form and then individually under the sample letter.
Email addresses with semi-colons in block form can be found on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm on the bottom of the page.

BLOCK EMAILS:

martink@..., jhallin@..., info@...,
investorrelations@..., deknutson@...,
Shareholders.IM@..., jhong@...,
investor.relations@..., contact.privacy@...,
tim_fitzpatrick@..., alfred.j.modugno@...,
gmorgenstern@..., wford@..., john.devine@...,
david@..., abuckelew@...,
wmcalduff@..., Amy.Sherwood@...,
ombudsman@..., lbremner@..., jking@...,
Chris.B.Ahearn@..., Jgilbert@..., myer@...,
jmenaker@..., alice.nathanson@...,
klane@..., mboyter@...,
brad.bodenman@..., ir.dcx@...,
heyer@..., NewsOutback@..., info@...,
investorrelations@..., marketing@...,
chris.jones@..., kroger.investors@...,
gisx@..., ssolomon@...,
pubaffmr@..., today@...,
enterprise.comments@..., leo.kiely@...,
amy_banse@..., chendricks@...,
employment@..., bob.dotson@...,
investor_relations@..., atpinfo@...,
Customer.Service@..., sales@..., info@...,
jdc@..., info@..., info@...,
barsenault@..., international@...,
info@..., redpaw@...,
gene@..., steve.yager@...,
sales@..., info@..., feedback@...,
webmaster@..., investorrelations@...,
sdougherty@..., rstewart@..., info@...,
MarkS@..., wilderinfo@...,
publicaffairs@..., feedback@...,
dawn.mccall@..., viewer@..., jmoses@...,
gunter.thielen@..., polson@...,
mspring@..., ecousens@..., jsisk@...,
sdisney@..., mgoad@...,
info@..., info@..., STEVESI@...,
rick@..., pat@..., sales@...,
franchising@..., rputney@..., info@multi-
pak.com, info@..., contact@...,
beaversports@..., info@...,
bill@..., ragnar.evensen@...,
wear@..., HCC19@..., scottz@...,
ir@..., wosport@..., info@...,
editor_1@..., presse@...,
chad.haight@..., jobs@...,
marilyn.ducksworth@..., mstewart@...,
emailbag@..., leepinliz@...,
juneymoon@..., Solutions@...,
sales@..., windigo@..., info@...,
alliage.com@..., leonce@...,
careers@...

PLEASE PERSONALIZE SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear

Please stop supporting the barbaric Iditarod with all the evils
associated with it.

Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced
to run 1,150 miles, which is the approximate distance between Dallas
and Cleveland over a grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days. USA Today
sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of
grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome
called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George
Diaz said the race is "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today
business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-
relations minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org and be sure to read the quotes on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm . All the material on the
site is true and verifiable.

At least 122 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official
count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. Here's a short list
of what happens to the dogs during the race: death, paralysis, penile
frostbite, bleeding ulcers, broken bones, pneumonia, ruptured discs,
hypothermia, broken teeth, viral diseases, torn footpads and lung
damage.

On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not even
make it across
the finish line. Of those that finish, 81 percent have lung damage.
No one knows how many dogs die in training or after the race. A
report published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said
that 48.5 percent of the dogs who participate in the Iditarod have
ulceration, tissue erosion, gastric hemorrhage, or a combination of
these conditions.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over
40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper
into their ears, 'OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the
devil.' They understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten
into submission the same way elephants are trained for a circus. The
mushers will deny it. And you know what? They are all lying." -USA
Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including
puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or
who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived
their usefulness are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or
clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they
don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike
Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March,
2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He
[Colonel
Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs
to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to
make mittens. Or dragging them to their death."

Please end your organization's association with this horrific race.

Sincerely,

IDITAROD SPONSORS:

Fort Dodge Animal Health (Wyeth)
Email: martink@...

Daimler Chrysler
Email: ir.dcx@...

Coca-Cola
Email: heyer@...

Outback Steakhouse
Email NewsOutback@...

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels
Email: marketing@...

Wells Fargo & Company
Email:investorrelations@...

Kroger Co. (Fred Meyer Stores)
Email: kroger.investors@...

Spenard Builders (Lanoga Corporation)
Email: ssolomon@...

Office Tech (Global Imaging Systems, Inc.)
Email: gisx@...

ChevronTexaco Corportation
Email: pubaffmr@...

Exxon Mobil Corporation
Email: enterprise.comments@...

Coors Brewing Company
Email: leo.kiely@...

Anchorage Daily News (Mc Clatchy Company)
Email: ptalamantes@...

Providence Health System
Email: employment@...

Cabelas
Email: Customer.Service@...

Global Information Technologies
Email: sales@...

Alaska Airlines (Alaska Air Group)
Email: ir@...

Too Far Publishing
Email: info@...

IDITAROD PROMOTERS

Outdoor Life Network (Comcast Corp.)
Email: feedback@..., amy_banse@...,
tim_fitzpatrick@...

Workman Publishing Company
Email: info@...

Carnival Corporation (Princess Cruises)
Email: abuckelew@..., careers@...

Scholastic Corporation
Email: investor_relations@...

Today Show
Email: Email: today@..., bob.dotson@...

Travel Channel (Discovery Networks)
Email: dawn.mccall@...

PBS Teacher Source
Email: viewer@...

Elderhostel, Inc.
Email: jmoses@...

Fodor's Travel Publications (Random House, Bertelsmann)
Email: editors@..., polson@...,
gunter.thielen@...

Frommer's Guides (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030
Email: wpesce@..., mspring@...

Avalon Travel Publications
Email: atpinfo@...

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Email: jsisk@...

Petplace.com (Intelligent Content, Corp.)
Email: scottz@...

TIME for Kids
Email: emailbag@...

Women's Sports Foundation
Email: wosport@...

Academy of Achievement
Email: editor_1@...

Insight Guides (APA Publications/Langenscheidt Publications)
Email: presse@...

Sasquatch Books
Email: chad.haight@...

Rough Guides (The Penguin Group)
Email: Marilyn.ducksworth@..., jobs@...

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.
Email: mstewart@...

Wilmington Public School Superintendent
Email: wmcalduff@...

Highsmith, Inc.
Email: dealersales@...

The Westminster Kennel Club
Email: david@...

Pedigree Dog Food (Mars, Inc.)
Email: jmenaker@..., alice.nathanson@...,
chris.jones@...

The Weather Channel
Email: klane@..., mboyter@...

National Public Radio
Email: ombudsman@..., lbremner@..., jking@...


MUSHER SPONSORS:

Stancorp Financial Group, Inc.
Email: jhallin@... , info@...

Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
Email: investorrelations@...

Eukanuba/Iams (Procter & Gamble Company)
Email: Shareholders.IM@...

Hanons/Safeway (Safeway, Inc.)
Email: jhong@...

Blockbuster Video
Email: investor.relations@...

McDonalds Restaurants of the Kenai Peninsula (McDonald Corporation)
Email: contact.privacy@...

Marsh USA (Marsh & McLennan Companies)
Email: alfred.j.modugno@...

AT&T Alascom (AT&T)
Email: gmorgenstern@...

PMI Nutrition Pet Foods (Purina Mills/Land O'Lakes, Inc.)
Email: deknutson@...

Ford Motor Company
Email: wford@...

General Motors
Email: john.devine@...

Taco Bell/Denali Foods (Franchisor: Yum! Brands, Inc.)
Email: Amy.Sherwood@...

Lowe's Home Improvement (Lowe's Companies, Inc.)
Email: Chris.B.Ahearn@...

UGI Corporation (AmeriGas)
Email: strategicaccounts@...

Northern Outfitters
Email: mail@...

Udelhoven Companies (Udelhoven Oilfield System)
Email: Jgilbert@...

Patrick Henry Creative Promotions
Email: myer@...

American Seafoods Group
Email: brad.bodenman@...

Annamaet Petfoods
Email: info@...

Eagle Premium Pet Foods/Eagle Pet Products, Inc.
Email: jdc@...

Breg, Inc.
Email: info@...

Dogbooties.com (a division of Arrowhead Fabric)
Email: info@...

Grabber Performance Group
Email: international@...

Blackwood Dog Food (The Blackwood Corporation)
Email: info@...

Redpaw Feeds
Email: redpaw@...

Fogtech
Email: gene@...

Oak View Elementary School
Email: steve.yager@...

Edmund Industrial Optics
Email: sales@...

American Dehydrated Foods, Inc.
Email: info@...

Atta Boy (American Nutrition, Inc.)
Email: feedback@...

Arctic Cat Inc.
Email: webmaster@...

Gander Mountain
Email: investorrelations@...

Cirrus Design Corporation
Email: sdougherty@...

Borton Automotive, Inc.
Email: rstewart@...

WHSmith and Sons, Ltd.
Email: info@...

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
Email: publicaffairs@...

Icicle Seafoods, Inc.
Email: MarkS@...


Wilder Construction Company
Email: wilderinfo@...

Thomas Jefferson Middle School
Email: sdisney@...

Patrick McGaheran School
Email: mgoad@...

D.H. Blattner & Sons, Inc.
Email: info@...

Adventure Unlimited Ranches
Email: info@...

Longfellow Elementary School
Email: STEVESI@...

United Railroad Materials Company
Email: rick@...

Senior Sojourns, Inc.
Email: Pat@...

Ophir Gold Ltd.
Email: sales@...

Batteries Plus
Email: franchising@...

Grossman Chevrolet
Email: rputney@...

Multi-Pak Corporation
Email: info@...

Royal Canin USA, Inc.
Email: info@... , alliage.com@...

Pro Pac Pet Food (Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. )
Email: contact@...

Beaver Sports
Email: beaversports@...

Montana Travel
Email: info@...

Bill Hanson, Attorney
Email: bill@...

AF Ragnar Evensen AS
Email: ragnar.evensen@...

Wolfsong Wear
Email: wear@...

Historical Chocolate Company
Email: HCC19@...

LeepinLiz Designs
Email: leepinliz@...

June Shelley
Email: juneymoon@...

Reflective "Puppy Parkas"
Email: Solutions@...

Innisbrook Wraps
Email: sales@...

Windigo Outfitters in Iron River
Email: windigo@...

Cold Spot Feeds
Email: info@...

The Ungar Foundation
P.O. Box 752
Copake, NY 12516

Harry L. McGinnis Middle School
17 Atther Road Buena Vista, CO
80345 Phone: 719-395-7060

Amaize (Marsland Laboratories)Email message box:
http://www.amaize.com/dealer_inq.htm

A n i m a l   W r i t e s © sm

The official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter

Established 1997

Editor ~ JJswans@...
Issue # 02/20/05


Publisher   ~ Susan Roghair         - EnglandGal@...
Journalists ~ Greg Lawson           - ParkStRanger@...
             ~ Michelle Rivera       - MichelleRivera1@...
Webmasters  ~ Randy Atlas               - ranatlas@...
             ~ Trevor Chin              - tmchin@...
Staff   ~ Alfred Griffith           - agriffith@...
~ Andy Glick             - andy@...
~ Sheridan Porter       - Pad4Paws21@...
~ Bill Bobo                - RunRun@...
~ Katie Vann             - Vann167@...
~ Michelle Michelson - LTEAM6@...

THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:

1  ~ CPR For Your Companion Animals  by Michelle A. Rivera
2  ~ Facts Show Iditarod Is Barbaric  by Margery Glickman
3  ~ 6th Annual Compassion For Animals Action Symposium
4  ~ Jungle Friends
5  ~ A Plea To Nature
6  ~ Memorable Quote


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~1~
CPR For Your Companion Animal
By Michelle A. Rivera - MichelleRivera1@...


There you are, walking along with your dog when suddenly he slips and
falls into the river and drowns. Would you know what to do?

Or maybe you come upon a dog having just been injured in a canine vs.
car accident and you want desperately to help.  Would you know what
to do?

There are approximately *68 million dogs and 73 million cats residing
with American families.  The majority of people with companion
animals polled said that they consider their dog or cat a member of
the family.  Dogs and cats may find themselves in the water and
unable to rescue themselves. They may be victims of a car vs. animal
mishap or toxicity, suffocation or other injury, accidental or
intentional.  Pet CPR classes and workshops are now being offered
around the country to help save the lives of the four-footed family
members in their time of need.

Here is a brief primer on the A,B,C's of CPR for your dog or cat.
Keep in mind that the following basic instruction is not intended to
take the place of a visit to your veterinary clinic or pet emergency
hospital, which should always be your first plan in an emergency.
However, if treatment can be started on the scene or en route to an
emergency veterinarian, a life may very well be saved.

Any animal, no matter how docile and sweet, can become fiercely
protective of himself when in pain so your safety should be your
first concern. Do not attempt CPR unless the animal is unconscious,
both for safety and for the health of the animal.  CPR should never
be performed on a conscience, combative animal.

Airway:  First:  Call your pet's name to see if there is any
response.  If no response, carefully lean down close and look, feel
and listen.

Look at the chest to see if there is a rise and fall, feel on your
cheek or the back of your hand for breath coming from the nose or
mouth, listen for breath sounds.

Breathing:  If the animal is not breathing, pull the tongue out just
a little, close the mouth and tilt their head back slightly to open
the airway.  Administer 4-5 breaths mouth to snout.  That is, close
their mouth and breathe into their snout through your mouth. If
squeamish about this, cover the nose with a light tissue, gauze or
other flimsy material.  You want to breath out just enough to make
the chest rise.  Larger dogs will need more breath, little dogs and
felines will need much less.  Don't give too much or you will injure
the lungs.

Circulation:  Check to see if their heart is beating.  Check for a
heartbeat (pulse).  The pulse points on a dog is on the inside of the
rear leg, towards the top of the leg.  This is the femoral pulse.
For cats, the pulse point is on the outside of the left front leg,
just behind the shoulder, this is the apical pulse.

If there is a pulse but no breathing, continue to perform mouth to
snout resuscitation at the rate of 1 breath every 3 seconds. For
small dogs or cats give 1 breath every two seconds.  If there is no
pulse, begin CPR.

For a dog, place the dog on the ground or other hard surface with his
right side down.  Bend the left front leg at the elbow, pushing the
shoulder back. The point on the rib cage where the elbow touches the
body is where you place your hands for compression.  Place one hand
over the other and clasp fingers together.  Lock your elbows and
perform compressions approximately 2-3 inches deep.  Do compressions
first, then a breath at the following rates:

Giant Dogs:  1 breath for every ten compressions, check for pulse
Small, medium and large dogs:  1 breath for every five compressions,
check for pulse

For cats or toy breed dogs, the technique is a little different.
Place the animal flat on the ground but place your hands on either
side of the chest directly behind the shoulder blades.  Your palms
should be over the heart, sandwiching the animals' chest between both
hands.  Begin compressions at only ½-1 inch deep and give one breath
for every three compressions, check for pulse.

For more information on pet cpr and first aid, visit
www.animals101.com and follow the links for CPR or register for a cpr
workshop.

*  American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) 2001-2002
National Pet Owners Survey.


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*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~2~
Facts Show Iditarod Is Barbaric
By Margery Glickman - SledDogAC@...


Billed as the Last Great Race, the reality behind the Iditarod's
phony image is enough to make your stomach turn.

The first Saturday in March is the start of Alaska's annual
exploitation of dogs in the Iditarod. Alaska law allows dog mushers
and the Iditarod to knowingly inflict severe and prolonged pain or
suffering on dogs. And that's just what they do every year.

What shocks people is that the carefully constructed image created by
the Iditarod promoters and mushers is nothing like the cruel
realities the dogs face. When we strip away the hype about the
Iditarod, we find a harrowing portrait of people with no trace of
compassion. Although the dogs are bred to run, it is shameless
cruelty for mushers to force them to race huge distances at peak
speeds.

The Iditarod is 1,150 miles, the approximate distance between New
York City and Miami, Florida, over a grueling terrain. Mushers now
complete the race in 8 to 15 days, less than half the time it took to
complete the original Iditarod. The dogs pay a terrible price when
their running ability is pushed to these unnatural extremes.

These dogs are not the indomitable animals Iditarod promoters and
mushers portray. What happens to the dogs during the race is well
documented and includes: death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding
ulcers, broken bones, pneumonia, torn muscles and tendons, ruptured
discs, diarrhea, vomiting, hypothermia, broken teeth, viral diseases,
torn footpads, and lung damage.

Dogs are often sick before the Iditarod starts but are made to race
anyway. While some sick dogs are dropped during the race, others are
given massive doses of antibiotics to keep them going.

The cruelty quotient is boosted by the fact that mushers, race
officials and veterinarians allow the dogs to be whipped. Iditarod
winner Dick Mackey wrote in Iditarod Classics, admitting that he and
Rick Swenson used whips to drive their dogs across the finish
line: "I reached in my sled bag and pulled out a whip just as he
glanced around and saw it. So he reached in and pulled out his. And
that's the way we came down the street, just driving those dogs for
all there was in us."

Stories about the dogs receiving top-notch health care don't square
with the facts. At least 122 dogs have died in the race. The dogs who
died in the 2004 Iditarod had undiagnosed stomach ulcers, a condition
often found in Iditarod dogs. One dog died from blood loss due to
ulcers, while the other dog regurgitated and then inhaled his own
acidic stomach contents, which caused him to choke to death.
Veterinarians and mushers ignored the detectable signs of ulcers--
lack of interest in food, severe vomiting and abdominal discomfort.

These two episodes are part of the Iditarod's long, documented
history of dog deaths, illnesses, injuries and poor veterinary care.
On the average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not make
it across the finish line. According to a report published in the
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 81
percent of the dogs who finish the race have lung damage. A report
published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that
48.5 percent of the dogs who participate in the Iditarod have
ulceration, tissue erosion, gastric hemorrhage, or a combination of
these conditions.  These figures come as no surprise to people who
know that many teams pass through checkpoints without stopping for
veterinary physical exams.

The dogs have suffered horribly. There is no accounting of dog deaths
in the race's early years and no one knows how many dogs die in
training or after the race each year.

Iditarod administrators promote the race as a commemoration of when
sled dogs saved the children of Nome by bringing diphtheria serum
from Anchorage in 1925. This romantic notion was just publicized at
the 2005 Westminster Dog Show.  However, the co-founder of the
Iditarod said the race was not established to honor the sled drivers
and dogs who carried the serum. In fact, 600 miles of this serum
delivery was done by train and the other half was done by dogs
running in relays, with no dog running over 100 miles. This isn't
anything like the 1,150 mile Iditarod.

The Iditarod is a morally bankrupt race run by people who won't tell
the true story about the cruelties the dogs suffer. The Iditarod a
public relations ploy designed to turn mushers into sports heroes,
and to line the pockets of mushers, race officials and Alaskan
businesses. The salaries of race officials are never disclosed, but
we do know that in 2004 the prize pot was $700,000. The race's
economic impact for Anchorage (pop. 260,283 per 2000 census), the
home of the ceremonial start, is estimated to be well over $5
million. For many mushers, participation in the Iditarod has meant
lucrative book deals, advertising contracts, speaker fees and a big
boost for their sled dog tour and dog breeding businesses.

When they are not racing, what happens to the dogs in their prison-
like puppy mills is enough to make your stomach turn. Many kennels
have over 100 dogs and some have as many as 200. It is standard for
the dogs to spend their entire lives outside tethered to metal chains
that can be as short as four feet long. Dogs are very social
creatures and chaining keeps them in solitary confinement, unable to
touch or interact normally. Tethers make them easy marks for attacks
by wolves, coyotes and other animals, and vulnerable to lightning
strikes and injuries. Contrary to their natural instincts, the dogs
are forced to eat, sleep, urinate and defecate in the same space.

Mushers breed large numbers of dogs to get a handful of good racers.
Boosting the cruelty quotient, dogs who aren't good enough to compete
or who aren't worth breeding, who are simply unwanted, are routinely
shot, clubbed or dragged to death. An article in Alaska's Bush Blade
newspaper said that "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots.
Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are
dragged to death in harnesses....."

The Iditarod is not a legitimate sport in which humans do the work.
The truth about the Iditarod shows the race to be a crime against
animals.

Take Action

The Sled Dog Action Coalition's web page
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm  has an extensive list of
2005 Iditarod sponsors and promoters as well as individual musher
sponsors. It also has a sample letter, and on the bottom of the page
there are email addresses in block form to copy and paste. Please
send these organizations letters or emails to protest their
involvement with the Iditarod.

Margery Glickman is the director of the Sled Dog Action Coalition,
http://www.helpsleddogs.org


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*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~3~
6th Annual Compassion
For Animals Action Symposium


Below is the application form / flyer for this years' Compassion for
Animals Action Symposium. Please register as early as possible and if
you can, please make many copies and distribute them around your
city. Good places to distribute the flyer would be Natural Food
Stores, Libraries, Humane Societies, College campuses, Festivals or
any event with like minded people.  Let me know by email or call me
about where you are distributing them and I'll coordinate things so
that you don't over lap with others in your travels.

Let's make this the best one yet. Bring some new people and encourage
others who haven't attended in awhile. The purpose of the symposium
is to get activists energized to get out in the community, schools,
etc., spreading the message of compassion. The format will be
different from past symposiums with interactive sessions being the
focus. We all have different ways of presenting our arguments for
animal liberation and we can all learn from one another.

Make the weekend a mini vacation and stay over on Monday and enjoy a
picnic and canoe ride on the Santa Fe River in High Springs, FL. The
symposium is a very informal affair so dress casual, bring folding
chairs, blankets, bicycles. Some of the sessions may take place under
the trees outside the community center where the event is to take
place. The VegEvents website will be updated as needed and that will
start after this weekend with a list of alternative motels, camp
grounds and directions. Hope to see you all there.

<><><><><>
Presented By: VegEvents
April 16-17, 2005
ALACHUA, FLORIDA
( 12 miles north of GAINESVILLE, FL )

CITY of ALACHUA COMMUNITY CENTER
14300  NW  146th TER.,  ALACHUA, FL
(directions will be posted on our Website or call 386-454-4341)

YOU CAN AND DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Interactive, Open Forum Format.
A regional gathering of activists and presenters. Come share your
experiences.  Some topics to be discussed: Humane Education, Vegan
Lifestyle, Undercover Investigations, Media Relations, Non-violent
Civil Disobedience/Direct Action/Protests, Burn-Out, Legislation and
starting a Florida Vegan Community. Other topics will be considered.

Let's join together to foster programs and campaigns to make Florida
more animal/vegan friendly.  Network with like-minded individuals and
form friendships that will last a lifetime!  Join the fun on Monday,
April 18th, picnic and canoe the Santa Fe River in High Springs, FL

Workshops by:
(So Far)
* Don Barnes,  former Vivisector, independent activist
* Heather Carpenter, Florida coordinator for Vote No 0n 4
* Joyce DiBenedetto-Colton, Earth Ethics Institute, Miami Dade College
* Gail Eisnitz, author, "Slaughterhouse"
* Tim Gorski and Val Silidker, Rattle the Cage Productions (Save
Lolita Film)
* Susan Hargreaves, Humane Educator, Wildlife Care Center (Ft.
Lauderdale)
* Holly Jensen, Animals and the Environment
* Rick Kump, (TAB) Teen Activists of Brevard
* Lt. Sherry Schlueter (Animal Cruelty Division), Broward County
Sheriffs Department
* Cary Theil, Grey2K
…and others from various organizations

Questions? Contact Event Coordinator: Chas Chiodo @ 386-454-4341
chasmo@...   www.vegetarianevents.com

FOR BEST RATES, REGISTER EARLY. LIMITED SPACE
Please register early, your contribution helps VegEvents offset pre-
symposium expenses. This years' event is a fund raiser for
VegEvents "Vegan Tour of Rural Florida" and to repair our "Mobile
Video Van."

SYMPOSIUM DETAILS
Schedule:
Saturday, April 16,   9 a.m. to 6 p.m.    Sunday, April 17,   9 a.m.
to 4 p.m.
Monday, April 18, Canoe trip and picnic on the Santa Fe River

Housing:
The Quality Inn Alachua (Symposium Headquarters) has a special rate
of $63.00 for symposium attendees (up to 4 people per room), $10.00
for companion animals.  For reservations call the Quality Inn at 386-
462-2244 and request the Compassion for Animals Action Symposium
rate. The Quality Inn is at exit # 399 off Interstate 75 in Alachua,
two miles (5 minutes) from the symposium site.
Check our website for other accommodations. www.vegetarianevents.com

Meals:
Symposium meals are Vegan and Organic. There will be 3 catered meals
(Sat. and  Sun. lunch,  Sat. dinner).
Prices for all meals are at the bottom of the page.


How Do I Pay?
Only Checks & Money orders will be accepted.
Make payable to VegEvents and mail to: PO Box 1057, Alachua, FL 32616

List additional names w/ phone numbers, addresses and e-mails on
separate sheet of paper.

Number in Party:______
Name:______________________________________________________________

Address:
___________________________________________________________________

E-mail:_____________________________________________________________

Phone # Day:______________________Eve:______________________

Please Note: even though this is a fundraiser for VegEvents a limited
number of discounts for volunteers are available.
No one will be turned away because of financial difficulties.  Call
VegEvents at: 386-454-4341

Meals provided ONLY w/reservations postmarked by April 9th
Register early for best rates; space is limited.

All dates are postmarked.      Please check to reserve:

____ $35 Full Symposium  by  Mar. 1st  w/no meals
____ $55 w/3 meals by  Mar. 1st

____ $45 Full Symposium by Mar. 24th w/no meals
____ $65  w/3 meals by Mar. 24th

____ $50 Full Symposium by Apr. 9th w/no meals
____ $70 w/3 meals by  Apr. 9th

____ $55 Full Symposium  after Apr. 9th   w/no meals

Student rates

____$15 Full Symposium by Mar. 1st   w/no meals
____$35 w/3 meals by Mar. 1st

____$20 Full Symposium by Mar. 24th  w/no meals
____$40  w/3 meals by Mar. 24th

____$25 Full Symposium by Apr. 9th w/no meals
____$45  w/3 meals by Apr. 9th

____ $30 Full Symposium after Apr. 9th w/no meals

Individual Meals per day:  Sat. and Sun. Lunches $7.50 each, Saturday
Dinner $7.50

Registration and Meal Total: _____

Please register early; your contribution helps VegEvents offset pre-
symposium expenses. This year's event is a fundraiser for
VegEvents "Vegan Tour of Rural Florida" and to repair our "Mobile
Video Van."





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:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~4~
Jungle Friends





Dear Friends of Jungle Friends,

"Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man
will not himself find peace."  ~Albert Schweitzer

Jungle Friends has been given the opportunity to extend our
compassion to 13 monkeys who are currently at a lab and are being
retired from research. There are 9 capuchins and 4 squirrel monkeys
ready to relocate to Jungle Friends. We have been given until spring
to prepare a home for the monkeys' retirement here at Jungle Friends.
To do this, we are asking for your help.

Sandie Friedland, Jungle Friends monkey sponsor, is hosting our Share
Your Heart campaign this year. Sandie painted a beautiful Portrait of
Howard for this year's Share Your Heart card and campaign. Howard is
one of the squirrel monkeys recently retired to Jungle Friends from
the same lab.

We will send a beautiful Share Your Heart card with the Portrait of
Howard on the front. We will include with the card, original monkey
art on a 3 x 5 canvas for a donation of only $25 and original monkey
art on a 5 x 7 canvas for a donation of $50. We are making the cards
right here at Jungle Friends, so if you would like to send it as a
gift we will type in any sentiment that you would like, from "Be My
Valentine" to "Happy Birthday" . Just let us know by filling out the
donation form (www.aesop-project.org/Share_Your_Heart_form.pdf) that
you will find on the Share Your Heart
(www.junglefriends.org/share.shtml) page.

Sandie is also donating beautiful 8 x 10 canvas Portraits of Howard
to Jungle Friends. Howard's Portrait will be your gift for your $100
donation to Jungle Friends.  All of the donations in the Share Your
Heart  (www.junglefriends.org/share.shtml) campaign will go directly
toward the lab monkeys' retirement.

If you are in the area or are going to be in Gainesville, we could
sure use your help building the habitats. Our normal "Volunteer Day"
is Saturday starting at 10 am; however, we will be working on
habitats for the lab monkeys every day.

Please make a contribution toward this very important mission today.
Please Share Your Heart (www.junglefriends.org/share.shtml) and send
this beautiful Valentine Card to your friends and loved ones. Help us
help those who cannot speak for themselves. Thank you so much for
your generosity!

Lots of monkey love,
Kari and the monks

Click here to read Jungle Friends' Fall 2004 newsletter in Adobe
Acrobat .pdf
(www.aesop-project.org/Monkey_Business_Fall_2004.pdf)

Please pass this post on to anyone that may have an interest in our
work here at Jungle Friends.

Kari Bagnall, Director
kari@...
www.junglefriends.org

Jungle Friends is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Donations are
tax deductible and can be made on your credit cards from the website
www.junglefriends.org

*A copy of the official registration and financial information may be
obtained from the division of consumer services by calling toll-free
within the state.  Registration does not imply endorsement, approval,
or recommendation by the state. (1-800-435-7352)





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*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~5~
A Plea to Nature
By Marguerite Wegner

I call on sun and wind and rain,
to put the Earth in order again.
I call on scientists to stop
genetically engineering the crops.
For those subjecting animals to hell,
to stop the slaughter houses as well,
and of people to multiply much less
to relieve the Earth of overpopulation stress.
For mankind to return the earth to a time
when peace and harmony reigned divine,
and greenhouse gasses were unknown,
as across the world mankind did roam.
If mother nature, you here my plea,
and return the bounties to the sea,
I will try to spread the word
that overfishing is absurd.
Please give us all a second chance,
and allow us your beauty to enhance
with human children born to know
to respect nature as they grow.

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*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~6~
Memorable Quote

"As custodians of the planet it is our responsibility to deal
with all species with kindness, love,
          and compassion. That these animals suffer through human
cruelty
is beyond understanding.
          Please help to stop this madness."
          ~Richard Gere

«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@...
Animal Rights Online
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal Rights Online=-
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
["Reprint permission granted by Animal Rights Online
(http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1395). Animal Rights Online is
an animal advocacy group that publishes Animal Writes, a free
Internet newsletter. To subscribe to Animal Writes, email
EnglandGal@.... If you forward or reprint Animal Writes in whole
or part, please do so unedited, and include this tagline."]

*   Please forward this to a friend whom you think
might be interested in subscribing to our newsletter.

* ARO gratefully accepts and considers articles for publication
from subscribers on veg*anism and animal issues.
Send submissions to JJswans@...

** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not
been specifically authorized by the copyright owners.  I believe that
this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair
use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of
the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material
for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain
permission from the copyright owner.

PLEASE CROSSPOST WIDELY

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

Barbaric dog-torture continues at the hands of cold-hearted Iditarod
mushers. Please help the dogs who are forced to run in the Iditarod
dog sled race by sending protest emails to race sponsors and
promoters.

Here's a short list of what happens to the dogs during the race:
death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding ulcers, broken bones,
pneumonia, ruptured discs, hypothermia, broken teeth, viral diseases,
torn footpads and lung damage.

Stories about the dogs receiving top-notch health care don't square
with the facts. Dogs are often sick before the Iditarod starts but
are made to race anyway. While some sick dogs are dropped during the
race, others are given massive doses of antibiotics to keep them
going.

Below is a list of organizations that are 2005 Iditarod race
sponsors, musher sponsors or Iditarod promoters. Emails are first
given in block form and then individually under the sample letter.
Email addresses with semi-colons in block form can be found on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm on the bottom of the page.

BLOCK EMAILS:

martink@..., jhallin@..., info@...,
info@..., john.leaver@...,
investorrelations@..., deknutson@...,
Shareholders.IM@..., jhong@...,
investor.relations@..., contact.privacy@...,
tim_fitzpatrick@..., alfred.j.modugno@...,
gmorgenstern@..., wford@..., john.devine@...,
wmcalduff@..., Amy.Sherwood@...,
Chris.B.Ahearn@..., Jgilbert@..., myer@...,
brad.bodenman@..., ir.dcx@...,
heyer@..., NewsOutback@..., info@...,
investorrelations@..., marketing@...,
kroger.investors@..., gisx@...,
ssolomon@..., media@...,
pubaffmr@..., today@...,
enterprise.comments@..., leo.kiely@...,
amy_banse@..., chendricks@...,
employment@..., bob.dotson@...,
investor_relations@..., atpinfo@...,
Customer.Service@..., sales@..., info@...,
jdc@..., info@..., info@...,
barsenault@..., international@...,
info@..., redpaw@...,
gene@..., steve.yager@...,
sales@..., info@..., feedback@...,
webmaster@..., investorrelations@...,
sdougherty@..., rstewart@..., info@...,
MarkS@..., wilderinfo@...,
publicaffairs@..., feedback@...,
dawn.mccall@..., viewer@..., jmoses@...,
gunter.thielen@..., polson@...,
mspring@..., ecousens@..., jsisk@...,
IRglobal@..., sdisney@...,
mgoad@..., info@...,
info@..., STEVESI@...,
rick@..., pat@..., sales@...,
franchising@..., rputney@..., info@multi-
pak.com, info@..., contact@...,
beaversports@..., info@...,
bill@..., ragnar.evensen@...,
wear@..., HCC19@..., scottz@...,
ir@..., wosport@..., info@...,
editor_1@..., presse@...,
chad.haight@..., jobs@...,
marilyn.ducksworth@..., mstewart@...,
emailbag@..., leepinliz@...,
juneymoon@..., Solutions@...,
sales@..., windigo@..., info@...,
alliage.com@..., leonce@...

PLEASE PERSONALIZE SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear

Please stop supporting the barbaric Iditarod with all the evils
associated with it.

Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced
to run 1,150 miles, which is the approximate distance between Dallas
and Cleveland over a grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days. USA Today
sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of
grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome
called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George
Diaz said the race is "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today
business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-
relations minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org and be sure to read the quotes on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm . All the material on the
site is true and verifiable.

At least 122 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official
count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. Here's a short list
of what happens to the dogs during the race: death, paralysis, penile
frostbite, bleeding ulcers, broken bones, pneumonia, ruptured discs,
hypothermia, broken teeth, viral diseases, torn footpads and lung
damage.

On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not even
make it across
the finish line. Of those that finish, 81 percent have lung damage.
No one knows how many dogs die in training or after the race. A
report published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said
that 48.5 percent of the dogs who participate in the Iditarod have
ulceration, tissue erosion, gastric hemorrhage, or a combination of
these conditions.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over
40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper
into their ears, 'OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the
devil.' They understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten
into submission the same way elephants are trained for a circus. The
mushers will deny it. And you know what? They are all lying." -USA
Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including
puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or
who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived
their usefulness are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or
clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they
don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike
Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March,
2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He
[Colonel
Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs
to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to
make mittens. Or dragging them to their death."

Please end your organization's association with this horrific race.

Sincerely,

IDITAROD SPONSORS:

Fort Dodge Animal Health (Wyeth)
Email: martink@...

Daimler Chrysler
Email: ir.dcx@...

Coca-Cola
Email: heyer@...

Outback Steakhouse
Email NewsOutback@...

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels
Email: marketing@...

Wells Fargo & Company
Email:investorrelations@...

Kroger Co. (Fred Meyer Stores)
Email: kroger.investors@...

Spenard Builders (Lanoga Corporation)
Email: ssolomon@...

Office Tech (Global Imaging Systems, Inc.)
Email: gisx@...

ChevronTexaco Corportation
Email: pubaffmr@...

Exxon Mobil Corporation
Email: enterprise.comments@...

Coors Brewing Company
Email: leo.kiely@...

Anchorage Daily News (Mc Clatchy Company)
Email: ptalamantes@...

Providence Health System
Email: employment@...

Cabelas
Email: Customer.Service@...

Global Information Technologies
Email: sales@...

Alaska Airlines (Alaska Air Group)
Email: ir@...

Too Far Publishing
Email: info@...

IDITAROD PROMOTERS

Outdoor Life Network (Comcast Corp.)
Email: feedback@..., amy_banse@...,
tim_fitzpatrick@...

Workman Publishing Company
Email: info@...

Carnival Corporation (Princess Cruises)
Email: media@...

Scholastic Corporation
Email: investor_relations@...

Today Show
Email: Email: today@..., bob.dotson@...

Travel Channel (Discovery Networks)
Email: dawn.mccall@...

PBS Teacher Source
Email: viewer@...

Elderhostel, Inc.
Email: jmoses@...

Fodor's Travel Publications (Random House, Bertelsmann)
Email: editors@..., polson@...,
gunter.thielen@...

Frommer's Guides (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030
Email: wpesce@..., mspring@...

Avalon Travel Publications
Email: atpinfo@...

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Email: jsisk@...

Outdoor Channel (Global Outdoors, Inc.)
Email: IRglobal@...

Petplace.com (Intelligent Content, Corp.)
Email: scottz@...

TIME for Kids
Email: emailbag@...

Women's Sports Foundation
Email: wosport@...

Academy of Achievement
Email: editor_1@...

Insight Guides (APA Publications/Langenscheidt Publications)
Email: presse@...

Sasquatch Books
Email: chad.haight@...

Rough Guides (The Penguin Group)
Email: Marilyn.ducksworth@..., jobs@...

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.
Email: mstewart@...

Wilmington Public School Superintendent
Email: wmcalduff@...

Highsmith, Inc.
Email: dealersales@...


MUSHER SPONSORS:

Stancorp Financial Group, Inc.
Email: jhallin@... , info@...

Helly Hansen (Investcorp International, Inc.)
Email: info@..., john.leaver@...

Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
Email: investorrelations@...

Eukanuba/Iams (Procter & Gamble Company)
Email: Shareholders.IM@...

Hanons/Safeway (Safeway, Inc.)
Email: jhong@...

Blockbuster Video
Email: investor.relations@...

McDonalds Restaurants of the Kenai Peninsula (McDonald Corporation)
Email: contact.privacy@...

Marsh USA (Marsh & McLennan Companies)
Email: alfred.j.modugno@...

AT&T Alascom (AT&T)
Email: gmorgenstern@...

PMI Nutrition Pet Foods (Purina Mills/Land O'Lakes, Inc.)
Email: deknutson@...

Ford Motor Company
Email: wford@...

General Motors
Email: john.devine@...

Taco Bell/Denali Foods (Franchisor: Yum! Brands, Inc.)
Email: Amy.Sherwood@...

Lowe's Home Improvement (Lowe's Companies, Inc.)
Email: Chris.B.Ahearn@...

UGI Corporation (AmeriGas)
Email: strategicaccounts@...

Northern Outfitters
Email: mail@...

Udelhoven Companies (Udelhoven Oilfield System)
Email: Jgilbert@...

Patrick Henry Creative Promotions
Email: myer@...

American Seafoods Group
Email: brad.bodenman@...

Annamaet Petfoods
Email: info@...

Eagle Premium Pet Foods/Eagle Pet Products, Inc.
Email: jdc@...

Breg, Inc.
Email: info@...

Dogbooties.com (a division of Arrowhead Fabric)
Email: info@...

Grabber Performance Group
Email: international@...

Blackwood Dog Food (The Blackwood Corporation)
Email: info@...

Redpaw Feeds
Email: redpaw@...

Fogtech
Email: gene@...

Oak View Elementary School
Email: steve.yager@...

Edmund Industrial Optics
Email: sales@...

American Dehydrated Foods, Inc.
Email: info@...

Atta Boy (American Nutrition, Inc.)
Email: feedback@...

Arctic Cat Inc.
Email: webmaster@...

Gander Mountain
Email: investorrelations@...

Cirrus Design Corporation
Email: sdougherty@...

Borton Automotive, Inc.
Email: rstewart@...

WHSmith and Sons, Ltd.
Email: info@...

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
Email: publicaffairs@...

Icicle Seafoods, Inc.
Email: MarkS@...


Wilder Construction Company
Email: wilderinfo@...

Thomas Jefferson Middle School
Email: sdisney@...

Patrick McGaheran School
Email: mgoad@...

D.H. Blattner & Sons, Inc.
Email: info@...

Adventure Unlimited Ranches
Email: info@...

Longfellow Elementary School
Email: STEVESI@...

United Railroad Materials Company
Email: rick@...

Senior Sojourns, Inc.
Email: Pat@...

Ophir Gold Ltd.
Email: sales@...

Batteries Plus
Email: franchising@...

Grossman Chevrolet
Email: rputney@...

Multi-Pak Corporation
Email: info@...

Royal Canin USA, Inc.
Email: info@... , alliage.com@...

Pro Pac Pet Food (Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. )
Email: contact@...

Beaver Sports
Email: beaversports@...

Montana Travel
Email: info@...

Bill Hanson, Attorney
Email: bill@...

AF Ragnar Evensen AS
Email: ragnar.evensen@...

Wolfsong Wear
Email: wear@...

Historical Chocolate Company
Email: HCC19@...

LeepinLiz Designs
Email: leepinliz@...

June Shelley
Email: juneymoon@...

Reflective "Puppy Parkas"
Email: Solutions@...

Innisbrook Wraps
Email: sales@...

Windigo Outfitters in Iron River
Email: windigo@...

Cold Spot Feeds
Email: info@...

The Ungar Foundation
P.O. Box 752
Copake, NY 12516

Harry L. McGinnis Middle School
17 Atther Road Buena Vista, CO
80345 Phone: 719-395-7060

Amaize (Marsland Laboratories)Email message box:
http://www.amaize.com/dealer_inq.htm

PLEASE CROSSPOST

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

Wild Women Unite, a group that seeks to empower women, invited
Iditarod musher DeeDee Jonrowe to be a guest speaker at its
Wilderness Weekend, Sept. 16 to 19 in Pulaski, New York. In the 2002
Iditarod, Jonrowe's dog Mark died from a bleeding stomach ulcer.  On
the All About Animals Radio Show, Dr. Paula Kislak, President of the
Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, said that before
Mark's ulcer ruptured there would have been signs that an ulcer was
present. He would have showed "a lack of interest in food, more
vomiting than normal, discomfort in the abdominal area."

Jonrowe has admitted having over 100 dogs chained on five foot
tethers in her kennel, sleeping on the sled while the dogs race and
breezing through checkpoints. When mushers blast through checkpoints,
the dogs do not get veterinary physical examinations.

Ask Yvonne Kopy and Annette Snedaker, the directors of Wild Women
Unite, to cancel Jonrowe's speech.

EMAILS: Yvonne@..., Annette@...

SAMPLE LETTER TO PERSONALIZE:

Dear Ms. Kopy and Ms. Snedaker:

I understand that Wild Women Unite invited Iditarod musher DeeDee
Jonrowe to speak at its Wild Women of the Wilderness Weekend. I hope
you will cancel her talk after reading the information I provide.

In the 2002 Iditarod, Jonrowe's dog Mark died from a bleeding ulcer.
In an interview on the All About Animals Radio Show, Dr. Paula
Kislak, President of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal
Rights, said that prior to Mark's ulcer rupturing there would have
been signs that an ulcer was present. He would have showed "a lack of
interest in food, more vomiting than normal, discomfort in the
abdominal area."

Jonrowe has admitted to having over 100 dogs tethered on 5 foot
chains in her kennel, sleeping on her sled while the dogs race and
breezing through check points. When mushers blast through check
points, the dogs do not get veterinary physical examinations.

In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles, which is the
approximate distance between Binghamton and Tampa, Florida, over a
grueling terrain in 8 to15 days. Dog deaths and injuries are common
in the race. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the
Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox
sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel
sports columnist George Diaz said the race is "a barbaric ritual"
and "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist
Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition (SDAC) website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures, and for more
information. Be sure to read the quotes on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm. All of the material on the
site is true and verifiable.

At least 122 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official
count of dog deaths available for the race's early years. Causes of
death have also included strangulation in towlines, internal
hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart
failure, and pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a
fatal condition in which a dog's muscles and organs deteriorate
during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also occurred.

In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for
by inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the
cold and died. Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit. No
one knows how many dogs die in training or after the race each year.

On average, 54% of the dogs who start the race do not make it across
the finish line. According to a report published in the American
Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, of those who do
finish, 81% have lung damage.


Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over
40 years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper
into their ears, `OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the
devil.' They understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten
into submission the same way elephants are trained for a circus. The
mushers will deny it. And you know what? They are all lying." -USA
Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed
Mushing Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once
state that "`Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat
on.'" "Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective...A training
device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective." "It is a
common training device in use among dog mushers...A whip is a very
humane training tool."

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including
puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or
who are unwanted for any reason, are killed with a shot to the head,
dragged or clubbed to death. "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog
lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are
dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an
article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March, 2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He
[Colonel Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like
starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight.
Skinning them to make mittens. Or dragging them to their death."

The Iditarod could not be legally held in most states because doing
so would violate animal cruelty laws. The California law's (§ 597)
description of a person who commits animal cruelty is typical: "Every
person who overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks,
tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, drink, or
shelter, cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills any animal, or
causes or procures any animal to be so overdriven, overloaded, driven
when overloaded, overworked, tortured, tormented, deprived of
necessary sustenance, drink, shelter, or to be cruelly beaten,
mutilated, or cruelly killed...or otherwise uses the animal when
unfit for labor, is, for every such offense, guilty of a crime
punishable as a misdemeanor or as a felony or alternatively
punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony and by a fine of not more
than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000)."

The race has led to the proliferation of concentration-camp-like dog
kennels in which the dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have
over 100 dogs and some have as many as 200. It is standard for the
dogs to spend their entire lives outside tethered to metal chains
that can be as short as four feet long. In 1997 the United States
Department of Agriculture determined that the tethering of dogs was
inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The chaining of dogs
as a primary means of enclosure is prohibited in all cases where
federal law applies. A dog who is permanently tethered is forced to
urinate and defecate where he sleeps, which conflicts with his
natural instinct to eliminate away from his living area.

Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance of parole. Please
do not promote this barbaric race by having Jonrowe speak.

Sincerely,

PLEASE CROSSPOST

Several months ago, the Miami Herald Neighbor's Section stopped
publishing the pet column written by Susan Neuman, which gave
important information about animal companion issues in Miami and
elsewhere. Miami's shelters are often overpopulated. Yet, the Herald
also stopped regular publication of photos and information about dogs
and cats who need to be adopted. Neuman's column and the pet adoption
information encouraged people to treat animals humanely and to adopt.
Please ask the Miami Herald Neighbor's Section to reinstate these
features.

Email Judy Miller and Marika Lynch: jmiller@...,
mlynch@...

PLEASE CROSSPOST

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, <A HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/">
http://www.helpsleddogs.org</A>

Making Iditarod cruelties seem romantic, CBS News Sunday Morning, a national
TV program, said that mushers are "chasing the memory of a time when the
hearts of men and dogs were the most powerful engines in the land." Its website
describes the Iditarod as fun, and has a photo of the 2004 Iditarod race winner.

Their report did not mention any cruelites that the dogs endure or that two
dogs died in the 2004 race or that dogs were made to run for 12 hour stretches
without rest.

Please let CBS know that the Iditarod is a shamless, bloody business by
emailing the show's executive producer, Rand Morrison and Leslie Moonves, CEO of
CBS-TV. Sample letter is below email addresses.

EMAILS: leslie.moonves@..., sundays@...

Sample letter to personalize:

Dear Mr. Moonves and Mr. Morrison:

CBS News Sunday Morning made the cruelties of the Iditarod seem romantic by
saying that mushers are "chasing the memory of a time when the hearts of men
and dogs were the most powerful engines in the land." The show's website
describes the Iditarod as fun, and has a photo of the 2004 Iditarod race winner.
The
Iditarod is a shamless, bloody business. Please give your viewers and website
readers the animal protection side of the Iditarod story.

In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles, which is the approximate
distance between New York City and Miami, Florida, over a grueling terrain in
8 to 15 days. Dog deaths and injuries are common in the race. USA Today
sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of grueling
proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome called it
"I-killed-a-dog."
Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz said the race is "a barbaric
ritual" and "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist Bruce
Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coaliton website <A
HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/">http://www.helpsleddogs.org</A> to see
pictures, and for more
information. Be sure to read the quotes on <A
HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm">http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remar\
ks.htm</A> . All of the material
on the site is true and verifiable.

At least 122 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. In "WinterDance: the Fine
Madness of Running the Iditarod," Gary Paulsen describes witnessing an Iditarod
musher brutally kicking a dog to death during the race. He wrote, "All the time
he was kicking the dog. Not with the imprecision of anger, the kicks, not kicks
to match his rage but aimed, clinical vicious kicks. Kicks meant to hurt
deeply, to cause serious injury. Kicks meant to kill."

Causes of death have also included strangulation in towlines, internal
hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and
pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a fatal condition in which a
dog's
muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also
occurred.

In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for by
inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold and died.
Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit. It is unknown how many dogs
die in training or after the race.

On average, 54% of the dogs who start the race do not make it across the
finish line. Of those that finish, 81% have lung damage.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into their
ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They
understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the same
way
elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And you know what?
They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing
Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that
"‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "Nagging a dog team is
cruel and
ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is
effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers...A whip is
a
very humane training tool."

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies.
Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for
any reason, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to death.
"On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball
bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote
Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March,
2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom
Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain
their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or
dragging them to their death."

The race has led to the proliferation of horrific dog kennels in which the
dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100 dogs and some have as
many as 200. It is standard for the dogs to spend their entire lives outside
tethered to metal chains that can be as short as four feet long. In 1997 the
United States Department of Agriculture determined that the tethering of dogs
was inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The chaining of dogs as a
primary means of enclosure is prohibited in all cases where federal law
applies. A dog who is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate
where he
sleeps, which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his
living area.

Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance of parole. Your viewers
and readers deserve to know the truth about this cruel race.

Sincerely,

PLEASE CROSSPOST

From The Sled Dog Action Coalition, <A HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/">
http://www.helpsleddogs.org</A>

Brutal dog-torture continues at the hands of hardhearted Iditarod mushers.
Please help the dogs who are forced to run in the Iditarod dog sled race by
sending protest emails to race sponsors and promoters. The Iditarod has a long
documented history of dog deaths, illnesses and injuries. On average, 54% of the
dogs who start the race do not even make it across the finish line. Of those
that do, 81% have lung damage.

Many dogs who are permanently injured in the Iditarod or who are unwanted for
any other reason are shot in the head, dragged or clubbed to death. "On-going
cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and
if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike
Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper.

Below is a list of organizations that are 2004 Iditarod race sponsors, musher
sponsors or Iditarod promoters. Emails are first given in block form and then
individually under the sample letter. Please blind copy the email addresses
(email addresses with semi-colons in block form can be found on <A
HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm">http://www.helpsleddogs.org/spon\
sors.htm
</A> on the bottom of the page):

DaimlerChrysler_Customer_Assistance_Center@...,
ir.dcx@..., pressinquiries@...,
heyer@..., NewsOutback@..., marketing@...,
investorrelations@..., investors@..., media@...,
rames@..., pubaffmr@...,
enterprise.comments@..., mike.gannon@..., leo.kiely@...,
obrown@...,
ptalamantes@..., chendricks@..., mbutler@...,
SFVSA@...,
Customer.Service@..., info@..., sales@...,
sales@..., mstewart@...,
investor_relations@..., info@..., dawn.mccall@...,
pandit.wright@...,
teachersource@..., viewer@..., Customer.Service@...,
newsmedia@..., registration@...,
editors@..., polson@..., gunter.thielen@...,
ecousens@..., wpesce@..., tony.wheeler@...,
talk2us@..., atpfeedback@..., hunterp@...,
dm@..., jsisk@..., msft@...,
rrt@..., agilmour@..., john.devine@...,
tricon.investor@...,
IRglobal@..., mail@...,
discoverywww@..., joyce@..., annie@...,
myer@..., asc_mkt@..., bonnie_ingraham@...,
info@..., jdc@..., info@...,
rambler@...,
info@..., info@...,
international@..., info@..., info@...,
redpaw@...,
JBbradley@..., neisgar2@...,
pointmanl@..., manager@..., rlhaynes@...,
teast@..., microair@..., ktreinen@...,
stvhr@..., phillip.bayt@...,
phillip.genetos@..., art.kalleres@...,
Sheila.David@...,
pxjones@..., gear@..., info@...,
AskMMs@..., MMsWorld@..., ethel.us@..., info@...,
bhorsey@..., yukonwind@..., lodgepol@...,
cfuelling@..., gene@..., gene@...,
jrautenberg@..., cconner@..., pam.sees@...,
pbschool@..., sweber@..., crestview@...,
sgraves@...,
robert_lumpkins@..., districtadministration@...,
dccl@...,
fenleyann@..., springdl@..., geraldb@...,
KellyB@..., bschmidt@..., info@...,
vicepresident@..., treasurer@...,
zvezda@..., leb7282@..., pikelegal@...,
prairiedogsupply@..., sales@..., sales@...,
contactus@..., smokey@..., richard.edwards@...,
inv-rel@..., office@..., business@...,
genevieve.dion@..., petfood@...,
info@..., info@..., michael.moe@...,
dquazzo@..., chayssen@...,
bkirkpatrick@..., windigo@...,
marie-pierre.grenier@...,
steve.cowing@..., patty_vanderlin@...,
marcr.lacroix@..., site.operator@...,
sheila.schaeffer@..., msnhst@...,
eduardos@..., scottz@...,
strategicaccounts@...,
pet.care@..., microsoftcom_contactus@...,
info@..., ir@..., procermexlt@...,
kesewell@..., info@..., info@...,
presidente.giunta@..., ra@..., jkern@...,
lhbroadus@..., sales@..., bruce.riggins@...,
melissa.thompson@..., pf@...,
ryoung@..., distributorservices@...,
newsroom@...,
ir@..., emailbag@..., amy_dunkin@...

PLEASE PERSONALIZE SAMPLE LETTER (If you will be boycotting, please say so.):

Dear

I understand your organization sponsors or promotes the Iditarod dog sled
race, and I want to bring some facts to your attention. This race is
condemned by
animal protection groups and animal lovers across the United States. Please
stop supporting this abusive race, and all of the evils associated with it.

Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run
1,150 miles, which is the approximate distance between Los Angeles and
Seattle, over a grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days. Dog deaths and injuries are
common
in the race. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a
travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome
called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz
said
the race is "a barbaric ritual" and "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA
Today
business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations
minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org and be sure to read the quotes on <A
HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm">http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remar\
ks.htm</A>
. All the material on the site is true and verifiable.

At least 120 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. Causes of death have
included
strangulation in towlines, internal hemorrhaging after being gouged by a
sled,
liver injury, heart failure, and pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external
myopathy," a fatal condition in which a dog's muscles and organs deteriorate
during
extreme or prolonged exercise, have also occurred.

In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for by
inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold and
died.
Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit.

On average, 54% of the dogs who start the race do not even make it across the
finish line. Of those that finish, 81% have lung damage.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into their
ears, 'OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They
understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the
same way
elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And you know
what?
They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing
Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that
"'Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "Nagging a dog team is
cruel and
ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is
effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers...A whip
is a
very humane training tool."

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies.
Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted
for
any reason, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to death.
"On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball
bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote
Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March,
2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom
Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain
their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or
dragging them to their death."

The race has led to the proliferation of horrific dog kennels in which the
dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100 dogs and some have
as
many as 200. It is standard for the dogs to spend their entire lives outside
tethered to metal chains that can be as short as four feet long. In 1997 the
United States Department of Agriculture determined that the tethering of dogs
was inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The chaining of dogs as
a
primary means of enclosure is prohibited in all cases where federal law
applies. A dog who is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate
where he
sleeps, which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his
living area.

Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance of parole. Please end your
organization's association with the Iditarod dog sled race.

Sincerely,

2004 IDITAROD SPONSORS

Daimler Chrysler
Email: ir.dcx@...,
DaimlerChrysler_Customer_Assistance_Center@...

Coca-Cola
Email: pressinquiries@..., heyer@...

Outback Steakhouse
Email NewsOutback@...

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels
Email: marketing@...

Wells Fargo & Company
Email: investorrelations@...

Kroger Co. (Fred Meyer Stores)
Email: investors@...

ChevronTexaco Corportation
Email: pubaffmr@...

Exxon Mobil Corporation
Email: enterprise.comments@...

Coors Brewing Company
Email: leo.kiely@..., mike.gannon@...

Brown-Forman Corp. (Jack Daniels)
Email: obrown@...

Mc Clatchy Company (Anchorage Daily News)
Email: ptalamantes@..., chendricks@...

Providence Health System
Email: MButler@..., SFVSA@...

Cabelas (sporting goods)
Email: Customer.Service@...

Comtec Business Systems
Email: info@...

AVID Microchips
Email: sales@...

Global Information Technologies
Email: sales@...

Alaska Airlines
Email: newsroom@..., ir@...

2004 IDITAROD RACE PROMOTERS

Carnival Corporation (Princess Cruises)
Email: media@..., rames@...

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.
Email: mstewart@...


Scholastic Corporation
Email: investor_relations@...

Bain Capital (Co-owns Houghton Mifflin, a company that promotes the Iditarod
to children)
Email: info@...

Travel Channel (Discovery Networks)
Email: dawn.mccall@..., pandit.wright@...


PBS Teacher Source
Email: teachersource@..., viewer@...

EF Educational Tours
Email: Customer.Service@...

Elderhostel, Inc.
Email: newsmedia@..., registration@...


Fodor's Travel Publications (Random House, Bertelsmann)
Email: editors@..., polson@...,
gunter.thielen@...

Frommer's Guides, For Dummies (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
Email: ecousens@..., wpesce@...

Lonely Planet Publications
Email: tony.wheeler@..., talk2us@...

Travel Smart Books (Avalon Travel Publications)
Email: atpfeedback@...

Hunter Travel Guides (Hunter Publishing)
Email: hunterp@...

Greystone Books (Douglas McIntyre Publishing Group)
Email: dm@...

TIME for Kids
Email: emailbag@..., amy_dunkin@...

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Email: jsisk@...

Petplace.com (Intelligent Content, Corp.)
Email: scottz@..., scottz@...

2004 MUSHER SPONSORS

Microsoft Corporation
Email: msft@..., rrt@..., msnhst@...,
microsoftcom_contactus@...

Ford Motor Company
Email: agilmour@...

General Motors
Email: john.devine@...

Taco Bell/Denali Foods (Franchisor: Yum! Brands, Inc.)
Email: tricon.investor@...

UGI Corporation (AmeriGas)
Email: strategicaccounts@...

Global Outdoors, Inc. (Outdoor Channel)
Email: IRglobal@...

Northern Outfitters
Email: mail@...

Montessori Discovery School
Email:discoverywww@...

Udelhoven Companies (Udelhoven Oilfield System)
Email: joyce@...

Patrick Henry Creative Promotions
Email: annie@..., myer@...

American Seafoods Group
Email: asc_mkt@...

Manchester Elementary School
Email: bonnie_ingraham@...

Annamaet Petfoods
Email: info@...

Eagle Premium Pet Foods/Eagle Pet Products, Inc.
Email: jdc@...

Breg, Inc.
Email: info@...

Caribou Creek Gold Dog Food
Email: rambler@...

Dogbooties.com (a division of Arrowhead Fabric)
Email: info@...

Cold Spot Feeds
Email: info@...

Grabber Performance Group
Email: international@...

Blackwood Dog Food (The Blackwood Corporation)
Email: info@...

Batteries.com
Email: info@...

Sofast.net Toll free: 1-877-7-Sofast

Redpaw Feeds
Email: redpaw@...

Benton Elementary
Email: JBbradley@...

Lowe's Home Improvement (Lowe's Companies, Inc.)
Email: manager@...

AdvoCare
Email: rlhaynes@...

Eagle Elementary
Email: teast@...

Micro Air, Inc.
Email: microair@...

Durbin Elementary School
Email: ktreinen@...

St. Vincent Sports Medicine Center (St Vincent Hospital)
Email: stvhr@...

Ice Miller Legal & Business Advisors
Email: phillip.bayt@..., art.kalleres@...

Abraham Lincoln Elementary School
Email: Sheila.David@...

Chesapeake Siberian Husky Club
Email: pxjones@...

Downwind Sports
Email: gear@...

Isis Clothing
Email: info@...

Masterfoods (Mars, Inc.)
Email: site.operator@..., AskMMs@..., MMsWorld@...,
ethel.us@..., pet.care@...

Northern California Siberian Husky Club, Inc.
Email: info@...

Siberian Huskie Club of Greater Detroit
Email: bhorsey@..., yukonwind@...

Siberian Husky Club of Greater Chicago
Email: lodgepol@...

Union Elementary School
Email: cfuelling@...

Fogtech
Email: gene@..., gene@...

Hickory Center Elementary School
Email: sheila.schaeffer@...

Frater ("Brother") Joseph F. Rautenberg
Email: jrautenberg@...

Triton Elementary School
Email: cconner@...

Oak View Elementary School
Email: pam.sees@...

Precious Blood School
Email: pbschool@...

St. Luke Catholic School
Email: sweber@...

Crestview Elementary School
Email: crestview@...

Neil A. Armstrong Elementary School
Email: sgraves@...

Cargill Animal Nutrition (Cargill, Incorporated)
Email: robert_lumpkins@..., patty_vanderlin@...

Argyle Lions Club (Lions Clubs International)
Email: districtadministration@...

Dane County Conservation League
Email: dccl@...

Mt. Horeb Intermediate School
Email: fenleyann@...

Springdale Lutheran Church Sunday School
Email: springdl@...

Argyle Elementary School
Email: geraldb@..., KellyB@...

Leggee Elementary School
Email: bschmidt@...

Free Spirit Siberian Husky Rescue
Email: info@...

Bay Area Siberian Husky Club
Email: vicepresident@..., treasurer@...

Siberian Husky Club of Metropolitan Dallas
Email: zvezda@..., leb7282@...

Pike Legal Group
Email: pikelegal@...

Prairie Dog Supply Co.
Email: prairiedogsupply@...

Edmund Industrial Optics
Email: sales@...

Yummy Chummies Salmon Treats
Email: sales@...

Melanzana Outdoor Fleece Clothing
Email: contactus@..., smokey@...

Polaris Industries, Inc. (makes snowmobiles, watercraft, ATVs, utility
vehicles)
Email: richard.edwards@...

Gargoyle Sun Glasses (Gargoyles, Inc.)
Email: inv-rel@..., webmaster@...

Groenewold Fur and Wool Company
Email: office@...

Affinity Advance Pet Food (Agrolimen)
Email: business@...

Ski-Doo Snowmobiles, Bombardier ATVs (Bombardier Recreational Products)
Email: genevieve.dion@...,
marie-pierre.grenier@...,
steve.cowing@...,
marcr.lacroix@...

Champion Pet Food, Ltd.
Email: petfood@...

American Dehydrated Foods, Inc.
Email: info@...

National Dog Food
Email: info@...

Think Equity
Email: michael.moe@..., dquazzo@...,
chayssen@...

Wilshire Park Elementary School
Email: bkirkpatrick@...

Windigo Outfitters in Iron River
Email: windigo@...

Corona Extra Beer (Grupo Modelo, S.A. de C.V.)
Email: procermexlt@..., ir@...

Napapijri
Email: info@...

Bamber Valley Elementary School
Email: kesewell@...

Kefas Outward Call
Email: info@..., info@...

Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Italy
Email: presidente.giunta@..., angelo.baiguera@...

Anchorage Sheraton (MeriStar Hospitality, Corp.)
Email: bruce.riggins@..., melissa.thompson@...

Oakridge School
Email: jkern@..., lhbroadus@...

Envia Corporation
Email: sales@..., distributorservices@...

CMP - Net Solutions
Email: ra@...

Pheasants Forever
Email: pf@..., ryoung@...

Amaize (Marsland Laboratories)
Email message box: http://www.amaize.com/dealer_inq.htm

Visit: <A HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm">
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm</A> for complete contact information.

Animals in Print
<A HREF="http://www.all-creatures.org/aip/">http://www.all-creatures.org/aip/
</A>
(To subscribe email: Ljbeane1@...)

Alert published on November 11, 2003:

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition
Merritt Clifton, the editor of Animal People is pro-Iditarod and pro-Yukon
Quest. For facts about Iditarod race cruelties visit: <A
HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/">http://www.helpsleddogs.org</A>  .


From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2000--

What if animal rights theory went to the dogs?

Beyond Animal Rights:
A Feminist Caring Ethic for the Treatment of Animals
Edited by Josephine Donovan
and Carol J. Adams
Continuum Publishing Co. (370 Lexington Ave.,  New York,  NY  10017),  1996.
26 pages,  paperback.  $18.95.

Yukon Alone:
The World's Toughest Adventure Race
by John Balzar
Henry Holt & Co.
(115 W. 18th St.,  New York,  NY  10011),  1999.  304 pages,
hardcover,  $25.00.

         Many of the authors included in Beyond Animal Rights might
doubt there is any resemblance between their outlook toward animals
and that of the participants in the Yukon Quest,  the annual
1,023-mile dog sled race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks.
         The Yukon Quest is held in colder weather,  during a darker
month,  intersecting less often with civilization,  than the better
known 1,150-mile Iditarod.  It may be less difficult to win only
because the prize money and media notice are less,  attracting fewer
of the top professional teams.
         The Beyond Animal Rights authors are mostly vegetarians,
academics,  and often tediously intellectual.  Some seem to do little
but quote others,  with endless footnotes.  Philosophy professor and
horse enthusiast Rita Manning appears to be the only one to spend
much time outdoors.
         The Yukon Quest participants by contrast fish,  hunt,  and
many trap.  Some may be barely literate.  More than just a few,
including the women,  are drawn by the macho image of the Quest,
which has never been won by a woman.
         Some Yukon Quest fans,  though not the mushers,  even sneer
at the Iditarod as a "sissy race,"  because from 1986 into the
mid-1990s it was dominated by four-time winner Susan Butcher,
one-time winner Libby Riddle,  and Dee Dee Jonrowe,  who had nine
top-10 finishes in 15 tries.
         The women Iditarod contenders helped to introduce a new ethic
of gentler dog care and greater accountability--sometimes at their
own expense.  Butcher,  a vet tech,   lost her chance at a record
fifth victory when she waited out a storm rather than put her dogs at
risk.  Streaking past to win was Rick Swenson,  who did not lose a
dog until his 20th Iditarod,  and has not lost any dogs since.
         Losses of 20 to 30 dogs per Iditarod were the norm in the
1970s,  when the race was young,  the field was far smaller,  and
even winning teams spent twice as long on the trail.  These days the
Iditarod and the Yukon Quest each lose under 1% of the 300-500 dogs
who start each event.
         Yet despite the dramatic drop in dog losses--which result in
part from increased speed,  reducing exposure to the elements--most
and probably all of the Beyond Animal Rights authors would agree with
the prevailing animal rights view that mushing is inherently
exploitive,  abusive,  and unacceptable.
         Yukon Alone author John Balzar,  on the other hand,  is
persuaded by experience that the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod are not
cruel.  As a "fellow traveler," in both animal rights and mushing
circles,  Balzar discusses animal rights with most of the central
figures in his first-hand account of the 1998 Yukon Quest,  and finds
many of them are at least sympathetic to the point of adopting quirky
behavioral inconsistencies.
         Yukon Quest cofounder Joe May,  for example,  was a trapper
who had misgivings about the cruelty of his trade.    He gave up
trapping any species but marten,  known for preying upon other
species caught in traps,  whose pelts fetch a relatively high price.
"Then he was invited to a local sled dog race,  and his trapline
dogs--surprise--won,"  Balzar recounts.  "May thought,  'I can make a
living this way and don't have to kill anything.'"
         Competitor Jimmy Hendrick outspokenly opposes wolf-snaring.
"I just don't think one living being should do that to another,"
Hendrick says.
         "So now the rednecks are after him,"  recounts Balzar.  A
neighbor is suspected of deliberately snaring the Hendrick family pet.
         Trapper Wayne Hall,  contrary to local norms,  brings his dog
indoors to sleep at his feet.  Hall too compromises with his
conscience by trapping only marten.
         "He will not trap foxes or wolves,"  Balzar writes.  "He
cannot bear the idea.  He can barely stand trapping at all.  If he
could gather and sell mushrooms from under the snowpack,  I believe
he would gladly trade his traps for a shovel."
         Another trapper Balzar meets feeds and values ravens as his
only friends.
         "Dog mushing may not be cruel,"  Balzar offers,  "but how
about trapping animals for fur?  Answer:  it's cruel.  But so is
industrial livestock production.  I have drawn my own lines.  I eat
meat,  although less than I used to.  I would never wear fur for
decoration.  But I have a ruff of raccoon fur on my parka...I wear a
hat of beaver fur because it's warm,  and the woman who sold it to me
feeds her family off the trapline.
         "My own moral position is entirely indefensible,  of course.
Like millions of others,  I hire my killers and don't watch.  That
puts me on a lower plane,  I'm afraid,"  than the trappers he
interviews.  "And [puts Balzar] many rungs down from my friends at
the humane society,  with their vegan diets and canvas shoes.  Odd,
isn't it:  these two kinds of people have more in common,  and are
less willing to recognize it,  than they do with the remainder of us
in the squishy middle.  The trapper and the vegan both live in
constant awareness of animals and their suffering."

What this has to do with AR

         Like Balzar,  I see no cruelty inherent in dog sledding and
sled racing.  I have never done either,  but I have run thousands of
miles cross-country in Quebec winters,  challenging blizzards in
mountain footraces of up to 50 miles in length.  I have also run with
a half-husky who never tired of running,  even under the worst
conditions.  Those who have never been athletes may never understand
what drives either human or canine to charge against a
40-mile-an-hour headwind in a whiteout in the middle of nowhere at 30
degrees below zero,  but those who have done it would not trade the
experience.
         Unlike Balzar,  I am a lifelong vegetarian.  From having also
found and removed countless illegal traplines on my crosscountry
training runs,  1977-1989,  I have as much direct experience of
trapping as most trappers,  and seriously doubt from it that most
trappers--who travel by car and snow machine--give animal suffering
any thought at all.
         But dog sledders are different,  because they have to be.  A
team of 16 huskies is a formidable pack,  easily capable of eating a
musher who fails to command their respect. As all the dogs must be
unhooked and fed every two to four hours during a race in order to
keep their strength up,  they get plenty of opportunity.  Whether or
not a musher is capable of empathizing with any other being,  he or
she must understand and bond with the team.
         Beyond Animal Rights explores the inherent contradiction
between recognizing the rights of animals and making impositions upon
animals which may include sterilizing them and keeping them confined,
or asking them to push on past the normal limits of athletic
endurance.
         The Beyond Animal Rights authors make no reference to
mushing.  Instead,  they discuss abstractly their belief that "the
discourse of rights and interests" led since the 1970s by male
philosophers Peter Singer and Tom Regan has failed to appropriately
address the practical issues involved in what In A Different Voice
author Carol Gilligan in 1982 called women's "conception of
morality...concerned with the activity of care,  responsibility,  and
relationships."
         Beyond Animal Rights editor Josephine Donovan finds
especially off-the-point Regan's several essays asserting that the
case for animal rights is a matter of application of reason alone,
exclusive of emotional considerations.
         Concludes the Beyond Animal Rights introduction,  "In a
recent article,  legal scholar Robin West pointed out that 'a
community and judiciary that relies on nurturant,  caring,  loving,
empathic values rather than exclusively on the rule of reason will
not melt into a murky quagmire,  or sharpen into the dreaded specter
of totalitarianism."
         That can be debated. Yet endless discussions of whether to
save a human or a dog (who is probably the best swimmer in the
scenario) if a boat sinks go nowhere,  because they depend upon
extending logic to extreme situations,  and have little to do with
daily life.
         Declares Brian Luke,  "Animal exploitation thrives not
because people fail to care [about animals] but because they do
care,"  either deliberately deadening their response to animal
suffering so as to go on eating meat,  hunting,  trapping,  or
whatever,  or inappropriately responding through self-identification
with the animal:  for instance,  by allowing pets to go unaltered and
roam at large;  or by abandoning an animal they cannot keep to "give
the animal a chance," instead of delivering the animal to a shelter
and possible death.
         "An ethic of care would be silent about the abstract right to
life,  whether positive or negative,  though it could shed light on
particular cases,"  declares Rita Manning.
         What Manning means is that euthanasia,  for instance,  should
be considered in terms of quality of life,  not just the right to
life--and that is exactly how most people involved in sheltering,  on
either the conventional or no-kill side of the fence,  have come to
think about it.  The no-kill movement took off in the early 1990s not
because of animal rights theorizing,  done mostly by men,  but rather
because women got tired of listening to men talk and set out to
encourage hands-on work that would actually prevent here-and-now
animal suffering.
         For every male no-kill pioneer like Richard Avanzino,  who
led San Francisco to no-kill,  there were and are five women like
ANIMAL PEOPLE publisher Kim Bartlett,  Alley Cat Allies founders
Louise Holton and Becky Robinson,  Spay/USA founder Esther Mechler,
and Doing Things For Animals founder Lynda Foro;  and behind them all
were the historical examples of North Shore Animal League founder
Elisabeth Lewyt,  who borrowed her late husband's business acumen to
introduce high-volume adoption,  and their late friend Alice
Herrington,  who as founder of Friends of Animals made the first
effort to popularize sterilization surgery.
         "If the animal welfare movement was mine to lead,"  opines
Balzar,  placing similar emphasis on the here-and-now over theory,
"I would not turn my back on mushers--I'd enlist them as allies.  As
a group,  they live closer to dogs and depend more profoundly on dogs
than any pet owners I know.  I would continue to keep a wary eye on
competitive mushing to prevent any backsliding,  and I'd denounce
those who would train dogs by fear,  or those who would cull puppies
looking for only the strongest.  And,  again,  I'd enlist mushers as
allies."
         If mushers could be persuaded to carry the message about pet
overpopulation to Alaska,  more dog-killing could be prevented in a
typical week than the sum of all the casualties in all 43 runnings of
the Iditarod and Yukon Quest.
         What if a humane organization sponsored a top musher with a
neutered team of ex-shelter dogs in the Iditarod or Yukon Quest?
Some former strays have already distinguished themselves in both
races;  such a team could even become a contender.  Contending or
not,  however,  it would spread the word in the north farther and
faster than anything else ever has.
         When the opportunity exists to make allies,  especially among
prominent role models within the hunting,  fishing,  and trapping
culture of the Far North,  why allow abstractions based on "rights"
theory to interfere with what can be done to benefit dogs by building
on the commonality of caring?
         In time,  cultivating broader concern for dogs in the Far
North should lead to openings for advancing concern for other
species--just as occurred in the Lower 48 and elsewhere,  as the
humane movement grew from the early focus on human orphans,  horses,
and dogs to the present broad concern about all cruelty.  Here,
meanwhile,  is an opportunity to start;  and if we learn from past
experience,  expanding the cause in the Far North should not take
nearly so long.                               --M.C.


--
Merritt Clifton
Editor,  ANIMAL PEOPLE
P.O. Box 960
Clinton,  WA  98236
E-mail:  anmlpepl@...

PLEASE CROSSPOST

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, <A HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/">
http://www.helpsleddogs.org</A>

As you can read in the article copied below, Merritt Clifton, the editor of
Animal People is pro-Iditarod and pro-Yukon Quest. For facts about Iditarod
race cruelties visit: <A HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/">
http://www.helpsleddogs.org</A>  .

Subj: Yukon Quest 
Date: 11/8/03 12:12:47 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: <A HREF="mailto:anmlpepl@...">anmlpepl@...</A> [Merritt
Clifton's email address]
To: <A HREF="mailto:SledDogAC@...">SledDogAC@...</A> [Sled Dog Action
Coaliton's email address]
CC: [deleted]
Sent from the Internet (Details)

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2000--

What if animal rights theory went to the dogs?

Beyond Animal Rights:
A Feminist Caring Ethic for the Treatment of Animals
Edited by Josephine Donovan
and Carol J. Adams
Continuum Publishing Co. (370 Lexington Ave.,  New York,  NY  10017),  1996.
26 pages,  paperback.  $18.95.

Yukon Alone:
The World's Toughest Adventure Race
by John Balzar
Henry Holt & Co.
(115 W. 18th St.,  New York,  NY  10011),  1999.  304 pages,
hardcover,  $25.00.

         Many of the authors included in Beyond Animal Rights might
doubt there is any resemblance between their outlook toward animals
and that of the participants in the Yukon Quest,  the annual
1,023-mile dog sled race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks.
         The Yukon Quest is held in colder weather,  during a darker
month,  intersecting less often with civilization,  than the better
known 1,150-mile Iditarod.  It may be less difficult to win only
because the prize money and media notice are less,  attracting fewer
of the top professional teams.
         The Beyond Animal Rights authors are mostly vegetarians,
academics,  and often tediously intellectual.  Some seem to do little
but quote others,  with endless footnotes.  Philosophy professor and
horse enthusiast Rita Manning appears to be the only one to spend
much time outdoors.
         The Yukon Quest participants by contrast fish,  hunt,  and
many trap.  Some may be barely literate.  More than just a few,
including the women,  are drawn by the macho image of the Quest,
which has never been won by a woman.
         Some Yukon Quest fans,  though not the mushers,  even sneer
at the Iditarod as a "sissy race,"  because from 1986 into the
mid-1990s it was dominated by four-time winner Susan Butcher,
one-time winner Libby Riddle,  and Dee Dee Jonrowe,  who had nine
top-10 finishes in 15 tries.
         The women Iditarod contenders helped to introduce a new ethic
of gentler dog care and greater accountability--sometimes at their
own expense.  Butcher,  a vet tech,   lost her chance at a record
fifth victory when she waited out a storm rather than put her dogs at
risk.  Streaking past to win was Rick Swenson,  who did not lose a
dog until his 20th Iditarod,  and has not lost any dogs since.
         Losses of 20 to 30 dogs per Iditarod were the norm in the
1970s,  when the race was young,  the field was far smaller,  and
even winning teams spent twice as long on the trail.  These days the
Iditarod and the Yukon Quest each lose under 1% of the 300-500 dogs
who start each event.
         Yet despite the dramatic drop in dog losses--which result in
part from increased speed,  reducing exposure to the elements--most
and probably all of the Beyond Animal Rights authors would agree with
the prevailing animal rights view that mushing is inherently
exploitive,  abusive,  and unacceptable.
         Yukon Alone author John Balzar,  on the other hand,  is
persuaded by experience that the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod are not
cruel.  As a "fellow traveler," in both animal rights and mushing
circles,  Balzar discusses animal rights with most of the central
figures in his first-hand account of the 1998 Yukon Quest,  and finds
many of them are at least sympathetic to the point of adopting quirky
behavioral inconsistencies.
         Yukon Quest cofounder Joe May,  for example,  was a trapper
who had misgivings about the cruelty of his trade.    He gave up
trapping any species but marten,  known for preying upon other
species caught in traps,  whose pelts fetch a relatively high price.
"Then he was invited to a local sled dog race,  and his trapline
dogs--surprise--won,"  Balzar recounts.  "May thought,  'I can make a
living this way and don't have to kill anything.'"
         Competitor Jimmy Hendrick outspokenly opposes wolf-snaring.
"I just don't think one living being should do that to another,"
Hendrick says.
         "So now the rednecks are after him,"  recounts Balzar.  A
neighbor is suspected of deliberately snaring the Hendrick family pet.
         Trapper Wayne Hall,  contrary to local norms,  brings his dog
indoors to sleep at his feet.  Hall too compromises with his
conscience by trapping only marten.
         "He will not trap foxes or wolves,"  Balzar writes.  "He
cannot bear the idea.  He can barely stand trapping at all.  If he
could gather and sell mushrooms from under the snowpack,  I believe
he would gladly trade his traps for a shovel."
         Another trapper Balzar meets feeds and values ravens as his
only friends.
         "Dog mushing may not be cruel,"  Balzar offers,  "but how
about trapping animals for fur?  Answer:  it's cruel.  But so is
industrial livestock production.  I have drawn my own lines.  I eat
meat,  although less than I used to.  I would never wear fur for
decoration.  But I have a ruff of raccoon fur on my parka...I wear a
hat of beaver fur because it's warm,  and the woman who sold it to me
feeds her family off the trapline.
         "My own moral position is entirely indefensible,  of course.
Like millions of others,  I hire my killers and don't watch.  That
puts me on a lower plane,  I'm afraid,"  than the trappers he
interviews.  "And [puts Balzar] many rungs down from my friends at
the humane society,  with their vegan diets and canvas shoes.  Odd,
isn't it:  these two kinds of people have more in common,  and are
less willing to recognize it,  than they do with the remainder of us
in the squishy middle.  The trapper and the vegan both live in
constant awareness of animals and their suffering."

What this has to do with AR

         Like Balzar,  I see no cruelty inherent in dog sledding and
sled racing.  I have never done either,  but I have run thousands of
miles cross-country in Quebec winters,  challenging blizzards in
mountain footraces of up to 50 miles in length.  I have also run with
a half-husky who never tired of running,  even under the worst
conditions.  Those who have never been athletes may never understand
what drives either human or canine to charge against a
40-mile-an-hour headwind in a whiteout in the middle of nowhere at 30
degrees below zero,  but those who have done it would not trade the
experience.
         Unlike Balzar,  I am a lifelong vegetarian.  From having also
found and removed countless illegal traplines on my crosscountry
training runs,  1977-1989,  I have as much direct experience of
trapping as most trappers,  and seriously doubt from it that most
trappers--who travel by car and snow machine--give animal suffering
any thought at all.
         But dog sledders are different,  because they have to be.  A
team of 16 huskies is a formidable pack,  easily capable of eating a
musher who fails to command their respect. As all the dogs must be
unhooked and fed every two to four hours during a race in order to
keep their strength up,  they get plenty of opportunity.  Whether or
not a musher is capable of empathizing with any other being,  he or
she must understand and bond with the team.
         Beyond Animal Rights explores the inherent contradiction
between recognizing the rights of animals and making impositions upon
animals which may include sterilizing them and keeping them confined,
or asking them to push on past the normal limits of athletic
endurance.
         The Beyond Animal Rights authors make no reference to
mushing.  Instead,  they discuss abstractly their belief that "the
discourse of rights and interests" led since the 1970s by male
philosophers Peter Singer and Tom Regan has failed to appropriately
address the practical issues involved in what In A Different Voice
author Carol Gilligan in 1982 called women's "conception of
morality...concerned with the activity of care,  responsibility,  and
relationships."
         Beyond Animal Rights editor Josephine Donovan finds
especially off-the-point Regan's several essays asserting that the
case for animal rights is a matter of application of reason alone,
exclusive of emotional considerations.
         Concludes the Beyond Animal Rights introduction,  "In a
recent article,  legal scholar Robin West pointed out that 'a
community and judiciary that relies on nurturant,  caring,  loving,
empathic values rather than exclusively on the rule of reason will
not melt into a murky quagmire,  or sharpen into the dreaded specter
of totalitarianism."
         That can be debated. Yet endless discussions of whether to
save a human or a dog (who is probably the best swimmer in the
scenario) if a boat sinks go nowhere,  because they depend upon
extending logic to extreme situations,  and have little to do with
daily life.
         Declares Brian Luke,  "Animal exploitation thrives not
because people fail to care [about animals] but because they do
care,"  either deliberately deadening their response to animal
suffering so as to go on eating meat,  hunting,  trapping,  or
whatever,  or inappropriately responding through self-identification
with the animal:  for instance,  by allowing pets to go unaltered and
roam at large;  or by abandoning an animal they cannot keep to "give
the animal a chance," instead of delivering the animal to a shelter
and possible death.
         "An ethic of care would be silent about the abstract right to
life,  whether positive or negative,  though it could shed light on
particular cases,"  declares Rita Manning.
         What Manning means is that euthanasia,  for instance,  should
be considered in terms of quality of life,  not just the right to
life--and that is exactly how most people involved in sheltering,  on
either the conventional or no-kill side of the fence,  have come to
think about it.  The no-kill movement took off in the early 1990s not
because of animal rights theorizing,  done mostly by men,  but rather
because women got tired of listening to men talk and set out to
encourage hands-on work that would actually prevent here-and-now
animal suffering.
         For every male no-kill pioneer like Richard Avanzino,  who
led San Francisco to no-kill,  there were and are five women like
ANIMAL PEOPLE publisher Kim Bartlett,  Alley Cat Allies founders
Louise Holton and Becky Robinson,  Spay/USA founder Esther Mechler,
and Doing Things For Animals founder Lynda Foro;  and behind them all
were the historical examples of North Shore Animal League founder
Elisabeth Lewyt,  who borrowed her late husband's business acumen to
introduce high-volume adoption,  and their late friend Alice
Herrington,  who as founder of Friends of Animals made the first
effort to popularize sterilization surgery.
         "If the animal welfare movement was mine to lead,"  opines
Balzar,  placing similar emphasis on the here-and-now over theory,
"I would not turn my back on mushers--I'd enlist them as allies.  As
a group,  they live closer to dogs and depend more profoundly on dogs
than any pet owners I know.  I would continue to keep a wary eye on
competitive mushing to prevent any backsliding,  and I'd denounce
those who would train dogs by fear,  or those who would cull puppies
looking for only the strongest.  And,  again,  I'd enlist mushers as
allies."
         If mushers could be persuaded to carry the message about pet
overpopulation to Alaska,  more dog-killing could be prevented in a
typical week than the sum of all the casualties in all 43 runnings of
the Iditarod and Yukon Quest.
         What if a humane organization sponsored a top musher with a neutered
team of ex-shelter dogs in the Iditarod or Yukon Quest?  Some former strays
have already distinguished themselves in both  races;  such a team could even
become a contender.  Contending or  not,  however,  it would spread the word in
the north farther and  faster than anything else ever has.          When the
opportunity exists to make allies,  especially among  prominent role models
within the hunting,  fishing,  and trapping  culture of the Far North,  why
allow abstractions based on "rights"  theory to interfere with what can be done
to
benefit dogs by building  on the commonality of caring?          In time, 
cultivating broader concern for dogs in the Far  North should lead to openings
for advancing concern for other  species--just as occurred in the Lower 48 and
elsewhere,  as the  humane movement grew from the early focus on human
orphans,  horses,  and dogs to the present broad concern about all cruelty. 
Here,
meanwhile,  is an opportunity to start;  and if we learn from past
experience,  expanding the cause in the Far North should not take  nearly so
long.       
                       --M.C.

   --  Merritt Clifton Editor,  ANIMAL PEOPLE P.O. Box 960 Clinton,  WA  98236
  Telephone:  360-579-2505 Fax:  360-579-2575 E-mail:  anmlpepl@...
Web:  www.animalpeoplenews.org  [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent
newspaper providing  original investigative coverage of animal protection
worldwide,
  founded in 1992.  Our readership of 30,000-plus includes the
decision-makers at more than 9,000 animal protection organizations.  We have no
alignment or
affiliation with any other entity.]

PLEASE CROSSPOST

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, <A HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org">
http://www.helpsleddogs.org</A> :

CBS Early Show's interview of blind musher Rachael Scdoris ignored the plight
of the Iditarod dogs, and failed to give equal time to the animal protection
side of the Iditarod story.

CBS asked Scdoris for her opinion of the animal protection viewpoint. Nothing
was said about the many ways in which the Iditarod is cruel. This was not a
fair or objective presentation of our views or of the facts. Please ask CBS
Early Show to air facts about Iditarod cruelties on another show.

EMAILS with commas: earlyshow@..., StormH@...,
SmithH@..., jchen@..., rsyler@...

EMAILS with semi-colons: earlyshow@...; StormH@...;
SmithH@...; jchen@...; rsyler@...


SAMPLE LETTER TO PERSONALIZE:

Dear Ms. Chen, Mr. Smith, Ms. Storm and Ms. Syler:

Animal protection advocates requested that your interview of blind musher
Rachael Scdoris be balanced by giving equal time to the animal protection side
of
the Iditarod story.

Instead, you asked Scdoris for her opinion of the animal protection
viewpoint, without stating any of the many ways in which the Iditarod is cruel.
CBS did
not give a fair or objective presentation of the animal protection
perspective or of the facts.

On another show, please devote equal air time to facts about Iditarod
cruelties and to the animal protection viewpoint.

In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles over a grueling terrain
in 8 to 15 days, which is the approximate distance between New York City and
Miami. Dog deaths and injuries are common in the race. USA Today sports
columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions"
and
"Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando
Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz said the race is "a barbaric ritual" and
"an
illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist Bruce Horovitz said
the race is a "public-relations minefield." On average, 54% of the dogs who
start the race cannot make it across the finish line.

Please visit the SDAC website <A HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org">
http://www.helpsleddogs.org</A> to see pictures, and for more information. Be
sure to
read the quotes on <A HREF="http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm">
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm</A> . All of the material on the site is
true
and verifiable.

At least 120 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. In "WinterDance: the Fine
Madness of Running the Iditarod," Gary Paulsen describes witnessing an Iditarod
musher brutally kicking a dog to death during the race. He wrote, "All the time
he was kicking the dog. Not with the imprecision of anger, the kicks, not kicks
to match his rage but aimed, clinical vicious kicks. Kicks meant to hurt
deeply, to cause serious injury. Kicks meant to kill."

Causes of death have also included strangulation in towlines, internal
hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and
pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a fatal condition in which a
dog's
muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also
occurred. The 1976 Iditarod winner, Jerry Riley, was accused of striking his
dog with a snow hook (a large, sharp and heavy metal claw). In 1996, one of
Rick Swenson's dogs died while he mushed his team through waist-deep water and
ice. The Iditarod Trail Committee banned both mushers from the race but later
reinstated them. In many states these incidents would be considered animal
cruelty. Swenson is now on the Iditarod Board of Directors.

In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for by
inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold and died.
Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into their
ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They
understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the same
way
elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And you know what?
They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing
Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that
"‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "Nagging a dog team is
cruel and
ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is
effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers...A whip is
a
very humane training tool."

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies.
Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for
any reason, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to death.
"On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball
bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote
Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March,
2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom
Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain
their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or
dragging them to their death."

The race has led to the proliferation of horrific dog kennels in which the
dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100 dogs and some have as
many as 200. It is standard for the dogs to spend their entire lives outside
tethered to metal chains that can be as short as four feet long. In 1997 the
United States Department of Agriculture determined that the tethering of dogs
was inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The chaining of dogs as a
primary means of enclosure is prohibited in all cases where federal law
applies. A dog who is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate
where he
sleeps, which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his
living area.

Iditarod dogs are victims of cruelty. Please tell your viewers the truth
about this barbaric race.

Sincerely,

Posted for veganvirago@... (Susan Gordon)

PLEASE CROSS POST

I just finished reading Michael Moore's new book, "Dude, Where's My
  Country." As with his previous book, "Stupid White Men," this one is a fast
read that attacks political conservatism with humor and wit, but Moore still
does not include animals in his compassion. He specifically dismisses animal
rights and vegetarianism and he uses a quote from General Wesley Clark,
which states Clark hunts, as one reason to support Clark's candidacy for
President. I copy these excerpts from the book at the end of this alert.

Please send Michael Moore INTELLIGENT e-mails, explaining to him why animals
are as deserving of lives free from exploitation as are
minorities/women/laborers and all of the other marginalized human groups for
whom he advocates. Send him lots and lots of e-mails, so he cannot ignore
them, as he ignored my last e-mail (sent after I read "Stupid White Men,"
which derided concern for animals).

Contact Michael Moore at: mike@...
Michael Moore's web site is: http://www.michaelmoore.com/

Excerpts from "Dude, Where's My Country":

In Chapter 10, "How to Talk to Your Conservative Brother-in-Law" (to
convince him that voting Republican is not in his best interest), Moore
advises readers to "admit that the left has made mistakes." He says, ".here'
s a start on what we've been wrong about" (note that many other points, not
concerning animals, are in Moore's list of mistakes the left has made):

1. "Vegetarianism is unhealthy. Humans need protein, and lots of it. Put
down those sprouts and pick up a T-bone!" (page 190)
2. "Animals don't have rights. Yes, they should be treated 'humanely.' Yes,
Tyson Foods and all the others that 'harvest' chickens are disgusting. But
'freeing' chickens from their factory farms is idiotic. They don't know how
to survive in the wild and they're just going to get hit by a truck. And lay
off carrying on about the milk, no matter how bad it is for you. You just
look like a dumbass if you go on national TV, like PETA does, to argue that
beer is better for the body than milk. This shit just makes me want to kick
my dog." (page 192)

Follow Moore's advice and tell Moore how promoting animal abuse is bad for
HIM (AND also for the humans he cares about AND, most importantly, for the
primary victims, the animals).

In Chapter 11, "Bush Removal and Other Spring Cleaning Chores," Moore gives
a list of reasons why General Wesley Clark would be a good choice for the
Democratic nominee for President. One point is (emphasis mine):

"He is for gun control, Says Clark: 'In general, I have got twenty some odd
guns in the house. I LIKE TO HUNT. I have grown up with guns all my life,
but people who like assault weapons - they should join the United States
Army, we have them.' " (page 210-211)

Thank you.

Susan Gordon

PLEASE CROSSPOST

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org:

Blind musher Rachael Scdoris will be on the Early Show (CBS,Oct. 20)
discussing her preparations for the Iditarod. Dogs die, become sick and injured
even
when mushers are sighted. Scdoris' dogs will face many added risks in this
already tortuous race. Please ask the Early Show to give its viewers the animal
protection perspective on the Iditarod. Contact information and a sample letter
are below.

Email: earlyshow@...,StormH@...,SmithH@...,
jchen@...

SAMPLE LETTER TO PERSONALIZE

Dear Ms. Chen, Mr. Smith and Ms. Storm:

I understand that on October 20, the blind musher Rachel Scdoris will be on
the Early Show to discuss her preparation for the Iditarod. Please give your
viewers a balanced picture by giving equal time to the animal protection side of
the Iditarod story. The Iditarod is condemned for its cruelties by animal
lovers and animal protection organizations across the United States. Scdoris'
dogs will face added risk in what is already a tortuous race.

In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles over a grueling terrain
in 8 to 15 days, which is the approximate distance between New York City and
Miami. Dog deaths and injuries are common in the race. USA Today sports
columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions"
and
"Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando
Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz said the race is "a barbaric ritual" and
"an
illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist Bruce Horovitz said
the race is a "public-relations minefield."

Please visit the SDAC website http://www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures,
and for more information. Be sure to read the quotes on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm. All of the material on the site is true
and verifiable.

At least 120 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. In "WinterDance: the Fine
Madness of Running the Iditarod," Gary Paulsen describes witnessing an Iditarod
musher brutally kicking a dog to death during the race. He wrote, "All the time
he was kicking the dog. Not with the imprecision of anger, the kicks, not kicks
to match his rage but aimed, clinical vicious kicks. Kicks meant to hurt
deeply, to cause serious injury. Kicks meant to kill."

Causes of death have also included strangulation in towlines, internal
hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and
pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a fatal condition in which a
dog's
muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also
occurred. The 1976 Iditarod winner, Jerry Riley, was accused of striking his
dog with a snow hook (a large, sharp and heavy metal claw). In 1996, one of
Rick Swenson's dogs died while he mushed his team through waist-deep water and
ice. The Iditarod Trail Committee banned both mushers from the race but later
reinstated them. In many states these incidents would be considered animal
cruelty. Swenson is now on the Iditarod Board of Directors.

In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for by
inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold and died.
Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into their
ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They
understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the same
way
elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And you know what?
They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing
Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that
"‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "Nagging a dog team is
cruel and
ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is
effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers...A whip is
a
very humane training tool."

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies.
Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for
any reason, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to death.
"On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball
bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote
Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March,
2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom
Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain
their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or
dragging them to their death."

The race has led to the proliferation of horrific dog kennels in which the
dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100 dogs and some have as
many as 200. It is standard for the dogs to spend their entire lives outside
tethered to metal chains that can be as short as four feet long. In 1997 the
United States Department of Agriculture determined that the tethering of dogs
was inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The chaining of dogs as a
primary means of enclosure is prohibited in all cases where federal law
applies. A dog who is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate
where he
sleeps, which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his
living area.

Iditarod dogs are victims of cruelty. Please tell your viewers the truth
about this barbaric race.

Sincerely,

http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/4029753p-4050685c.html

Newspaper editor: letters@...
Outdoor editor: cmedred@...

  By Craig Medred (cmedred@...)
  Anchorage Daily News
  (Published: September 28, 2003)

  Would anyone think of letting a legally blind woman or man race in the Indy
500 -- with or without visual interpreters?

  Of course not.

  Why?

  Because a blind driver would compromise the safety of other drivers.

  How then can the board of directors of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race make
the decision to let a blind musher race a dog team to Nome?

  Because the only safety being compromised here is that of the dogs.

  Because it is easy to grant our feelings for other people preference over
the safety of animals that cannot speak to protect themselves.

  This is easy to understand. Frankly, I think it would be wonderful if
legally blind musher Rachael Scdoris took a dog team to Nome. I'd even volunteer
to
gas up my snowmobile and help guide her the 1,000 miles north from Wasilla if
she wants to take a dog trek up the Iditarod Trail.

  But to let her race to Nome in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is wrong
because it ignores the safety of the animals doing the racing. Were the Iditarod
a human-powered event, it would be different.

  Humans can talk. They can tell you if they are near exhaustion. They can
yell if they get arms or legs tangled in lines. They can even be forced to
confess the extent of those little injuries that might not appear significant
but
are handicapping performance.

  Dogs can't do these things. Dogs depend on a musher to spot a change in gait
that indicates something is wrong, or to get the sled stopped quickly and
safely if one of the team somehow becomes dangerously tangled in the lines, or
to
spot a moose on the trail ahead before the team runs into it.

  And these are just some of the dangers that arise every time dogs are
harnessed up for a run. They are minimal dangers for a team out for a walk. They
are
increasing dangers for every mile per hour the team goes faster. Speed
changes everything in racing, and it doesn't matter if one is talking cars,
snowmobiles, sled dogs or humans.

  Simply by trying to keep up with the Iditarod pace -- even if she travels at
the very back of the pack -- Scdoris will be putting more stress on her dogs
than she would in a taking a leisurely sled-dog tour to Nome.

  Scdoris told the Iditarod board she can detect problems developing by the
way a change in gait of an individual dog filters back along the gangline to her
sled. I find that difficult to believe, but I am willing to accept that
people without sight hone their other senses far more acutely than the rest of
us.

  Scdoris, unfortunately, hasn't seen the Iditarod Trail. There is no
comparison with the groomed trails she's used to. There are parts of the
Iditarod
where no one, no matter how good his or her sense of feel, could possibly tell
anything from the pull of the gangline because the sled is bouncing everywhere
or, as in Happy River Gorge, the dogs aren't pulling at all. They are out front
running for their lives as gravity propels the sled downward.

  Years ago, I remember helping musher Paul Rupple untangle the foot of a dog
from a tugline at the base of the Happy River hill. Normally, dogs that get a
foot in these lines are able to free it themselves. But this dog had somehow
gotten a couple wraps around its ankle and was in trouble. The other dogs in
the team didn't care. They were exhilarated by the wild run down the hill and
raring to charge on along the smooth surface of the frozen river.

  Had Rupple not been able to see what was going on, the team might well have
kept going ahead at top speed until the trapped dog's leg snapped or his
dragging body smashed into something, prompting a howl.

  Scdoris would not have been able to see or feel this, nor would her visual
interpreters have been any help until the howling started.

  This is not some farfetched scenario. Sighted mushers, who can see and react
immediately, have lost dogs in situations just like this. Jason Barron had
one strangle in a tangle in the Dalzell Gorge in 1993. Iditarod champ Martin
Buser lost one to internal bleeding after it hit a tree in 1989. Other dogs have
died in similar ways.

  That said, let me add that there is no doubt that circumstances could be
manipulated to make it possible for Scdoris to safely take a dog team through
the
Alaska Range and on to Nome. But there is no way to do that during a race.

  Let's consider just one of many problem areas: The three-step drop into the
Happy River Gorge.

  To get down the cliffs without undue risk to the dogs, Scdoris would really
need a snowmachine idling along in front of her team at 5 mph to keep the dogs
from breaking into a lope as they are prone to do. She'd need verbal
instructions on where to stand to keep the sled from rolling off the sides of
the
trail as it switchbacks down the cliffs. Usually, the instructions would be left
runner and brake to the first turn, right runner and brake to the next turn,
left runner and brake to the bottom, but there are no givens on the Iditarod.
The trail changes year to year -- what trail there is.
  And that's the biggest problem. What Scdoris would need at Happy River Gorge
more than anything is good trail. Under normal circumstances, she won't get
it. By the time back-of-the-pack Iditarod racers, including Scdoris, get to the
Happy River Gorge, the teams that have gone before have turned the trail into
a trench.
  As drivers descend, standing on a piece of snowmobile track called a "drag
brake," they cut a deeper and deeper groove. Sometimes it gets so deep the hill
becomes difficult to negotiate, even on a snowmobile. By then, the Happy
River Gorge is a serious challenge for mushers who can see and prepare. The hill
is simply no place for a blind musher.

  Were Scdoris on a sled-dog trek, she could park her team at the top of the
hill and wait for others traveling with her to repair the trail. Personally,
I'd be happy to take my snow shovel and go fill in the rut, or chop it out, to
make the trail safe. But Scdoris doesn't want to go on an Iditarod trek.

  She wants to be in the Iditarod race, which means there is no time for
stopping to fix the trail. She and her visual interpreters will just have to
plow
ahead no matter the conditions.

  That she has an agent should have been all the red flag the Iditarod board
needed. Why does one hire an agent? To help them acquire money or fame or both.
Money and fame happen to form the crossbars for the cross on which
animal-rights activists have tried to crucify the Iditarod.

  It's all enough to make a seasoned Iditarod observer wonder if everyone
involved with the race has somehow forgotten what happened to five-time Iditarod
champ Rick Swenson in 1996. He was booted from the race after the accidental
death of one of his dogs in overflow. There were questions about whether Swenson
had been able to see well enough to ensure the safety of his dogs on the
Skwentna River. Those questions centered on whether Swenson should have had his
headlight on or off.

  I well remember Swenson, a member of the current Iditarod Trail Committee
board, being irate that people who'd never been out on a moonlit river couldn't
grasp that you can often see better by moonlight than by headlight. In
moonlight, of course, a musher can't see as well as in daylight, but by all
indications a sighted musher can still see better in moonlight than Scdoris can
in
daylight.

  Does the Iditarod, which has come to pride itself on dog care, really want
to gamble with dog safety in this way? If it does, and a dog dies in Scdoris'
team, who is responsible? A 18-year-old musher pushed into the race by her
boosterish father, or the race board that lacked the courage to stand up and say
"no"?

  The board apparently hopes to avoid this question altogether by setting up a
scenario which makes it difficult for Scdoris to qualify for the big race.
She must, for instance, start all over in obtaining the qualifying standards,
and she must, along the way, demonstrate the efficacy of her visual
interpreters. Clearly the hope is that Scdoris will fade away before the race
begins in
March.

  The fade-away strategy has become the politically astute way to handle
delicate issues in America today, but it is ethically bankrupt -- no matter how
hard it might be to tell Scdoris "no.''

  And it is hard. Every caring person can empathize with the plea of Access
Alaska's Jim Beck to "come out into the light and open your hearts and make a
decision out of love for your fellow beings.''

  We all want to love our fellow beings. Unfortunately, however, humans aren't
the only "fellow beings'' that must be considered in this case.

  There are the dogs. They count on people to rise above simple, human
emotions, accept the fact that life isn't always fair and deal with it. I'm
sorry
Scdoris is blind. I'm sorry that puts limits on her life.

  But we are all limited. There are no doubt dozens of things Scdoris does far
better than me. There are no doubt things she does better than any Iditarod
musher. She needs to find those things and pursue them instead of sinking her
competitive energy into the idea of running the Iditarod race.

  It is a race. Let's not forget that.
  It is a race.

  It's about mushers -- be they the best in the sport or the merely mediocre
-- trying to help their dogs get the absolute best out of themselves in a race
against the clock. Scdoris' lack of vision makes it difficult for her to meet
that standard. And the harder she tries, the more she puts her dogs at risk.

  Is that what we all really want? Is this the way we make ourselves feel good
about our humanity?
  Call me a stupid old dog lover if you must, but the Iditarod board appears
to have made a decision here with far too little concern for the real athletes
in the race.

  Daily News outdoor editor Craig Medred's opinion column appears on Sunday.
He can be reached at 257-4588 or at cmedred@....

[Boughton was the owner of the "animal tour bus from hell."]

Web posted Sunday, August 24, 2003

Boughton sentenced in animal cruelty case
By PHIL HERMANEK
Peninsula Clarion

The woman charged with animal cruelty for keeping dozens of underfed,
ungroomed dogs in Sterling received a suspended sentence of a year in jail, a
$5,000
fine and was placed on five years probation in Kenai District Court on Friday.

As part of the sentence handed down by Magistrate David S. Landry, Carolyn
Boughton is forbidden from owning any animals during the length of her probation
other than the 13-year-old miniature schnauzer she currently has, and she is
not allowed to breed any animals.

Additionally, Boughton was ordered to pay restitution for the cost of caring
for 66 dogs that were rescued from property she rented in Sterling. That cost
is to be determined by the state, according to Landry.

The case arose when Alaska State Troopers investigated a complaint that
Boughton was housing numerous Bouviers and Kerry blue terriers in a bus and
trailer
in Sterling without food or water.

When troopers went to the site on Spruce Road on Nov. 5, 2001, they found six
dead dogs, including four Bouviers and two terriers, one terrier that had to
be euthanized because of its weak condition and one that needed to have an eye
removed due to severe infection.

In addition, 65 live dogs, many covered with frozen urine and feces, were
found suffering from malnutrition and extreme dehydration.

Sixty-six dogs were rescued by the Alaska Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals and all were placed in adoptive homes, according to Diane
Zarfoss, clinic coordinator in Anchorage.

In sentencing Boughton, Landry said, "There's no question, Miss Boughton,
that your heart might have been in a good place, but the worst thing that could
have happened to these dogs was coming into your care.

"I have no doubt of your love, but you were not capable, financially and
mentally, and not physically capable of properly taking care of these animals,"
he
said.

The 58-year-old Boughton, who arrived in court in a wheelchair, said she
recently had undergone gall bladder surgery and was in need of operations on her
neck and back. She also told the court that at the time her dogs were
discovered by troopers, she was undergoing financial difficulties that prevented
her
from being able to adequately feed her dogs.

She had been evicted from the property in Sterling and was commuting from
Nikiski to care for the animals when she could. She also said she was paying
someone $100 a month to feed the dogs, but the person was not feeding them or
providing water as agreed.

Landry said the situation goes to the heart of American society.

"We have had a love affair with animals in this country since the time of the
Pilgrims," he said. "We expect people who take on the responsibility of
animals to care for them.

"This court, this community, this peninsula demands it. If you have trouble,
wave a white flag," he said.

Prior to sentencing, Boughton told the court she was prevented from having
help.

"I would never have harmed any of my dogs," she said.

She said she had sold her property on the Kenai River where she was breeding
dogs for years hoping to create a new breed of miniature Bouviers. She
acquired the bus and trailer and was planning to leave Alaska with all the dogs,
but
she alleged someone sabotaged the bus and one event after another prevented
her from leaving.

Boughton also said she had set up a living space in the bus for herself so
she could stay with her dogs.

"As far as my dogs, I would've rather died myself," she said.

"I had the top winning Bouviers in the nation. I was proud of those dogs, and
I showed them. I worked to miniaturize Bouviers for 10 years," she said. "I
didn't have a puppy mill. I wasn't a collector. All I was going to keep was my
miniatures."

Describing the sentence as being geared toward her rehabilitation and toward
deterring her from further animal breeding, Landry ordered Boughton to allow
state troopers to perform welfare checks on her schnauzer at her Nikiski
residence during her probation and said any interference with troopers would
result
in revocation of her probation.

Boughton's court-appointed attorney, Brooke Browning, said the sentence was
close to what she expected.

"I feel in all of this, Miss Boughton has gotten lost," Browning said.

"I'm glad she got her day in court. This wasn't a case of malice or cruelty."

Of the sentence, assistant district attorney June Stein said, "The court was
right on point."

http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/082403/new_082403new004001.shtml

Carolyn Boughton, the subject of the article The Animal Tour Bus from Hell
(see below), will finally be coming to trial on August 5, 2003. The Alaska SPCA
asks that you email to the D.A. at anna_laroche@.... Please
personalize the sample letter:

Dear Mr. McConnell:

Regarding the Carolyn Boughton Animal Cruelty case scheduled for August 5,
2003 in the Kenai District Court. I ask that Carolyn Boughton be prohibited from
ever owning or having custody of animals or from being associated with any
animal breeding or selling.

I understand that she has now three dogs now and intends to breed horses. If
this occurs, the animal cruelty will continue.

It is important that she receive mental health counseling, as she appears to
have the
symptoms of an "animal collector."

Sincerely,

The Animal Tour Bus from Hell

Commentary by Margery Glickman
Animals In Print
(Published: September 22, 2002)

Beyond the borders of Alaska's large cities, acts of barbarism against
animals can easily happen. Alaska, without a statewide humane officer to
enforce animal cruelty laws, leaves animal control up to over-burdened state
troopers who do not adequately understand the animal cruelty laws. The saga
of how the Alaska SPCA saved 66 animals from brutal treatment in Sterling,
Alaska shows why a statewide humane officer, with an adequate support staff,
is desperately needed to prevent atrocities in the future.

Here's what happened. With each advancing step, Alaska SPCA volunteer Nancy
Wall's flashlight illuminated scenes of devastation  and misery on a dark
bitterly cold winter afternoon in Sterling when she went to check on Carolyn
Boughton's animals. "The snow was littered with the bodies of Boughton's dead
cats. There were legs and skulls from cats who had been torn apart and
eaten," Wall said.

Each time Wall moved her flashlight along the ground she found more horrors.
"I tripped over dead dogs, " she said. One Bouvier des Flandres, a large
black herding and guard dog, died tethered to a tree on a short chain when
his legs became entangled in the wire from a fallen tarp. Two other dogs
choked to death trying to free themselves from their tethers, their collars
pulled back on their eyes. A pinch collar (a collar with blunt prongs that
pinch the dog's skin when the collar is tightened) dug deep into one dog's
neck.

In the dark, Wall could smell the stench long before she saw its source--an
old Greyhound tour bus. "I looked in the window and nausea almost overwhelmed
me," Wall said. Through the windows she could hear the plaintive cries of the
animals Boughton kept captive inside.

Wall brought in state troopers, who instead of removing Boughton's animals
from their hellish conditions, told Boughton she had several days to make
improvements. Determined to help the animals, Wall convinced Broughton to
transfer their ownership to the Alaska SPCA. Diane Zarfoss and her team of
one veterinarian and six Alaska SPCA rescuers then drove 2 1/2 hours from
Anchorage to save the remaining dogs from their agony.

"The situation was devastating," Zarfoss said. "We had to wear gas masks to
go inside, because the smell of urine and feces was so strong." The bus was
stripped on the inside and plywood boxes with dogs were stacked along the
walls. Each box had two to four holes the size of a quarter, but otherwise
the dogs were enclosed in solid plywood. Some boxes held two dogs.

Zarfoss explained that the boxes were filled with urine and feces piled six
to eight inches thick and that the dogs' fur was matted with excrement. Their
eyes were weepy from living in their own feces and urine, and with the -20
degree temperature, their eyes froze shut. One Kerry blue terrier's eye was
so damaged that it was later removed and all the dogs received eye
medication."

Food bowls weren't placed in the wooden crates, Zarfoss said. The dogs were
on the brink of starvation and dehydration. Some Kerry Blue Terriers tried to
chew their way out but died when their legs were wedged into the cracks in
the plywood. "Other dogs froze to death. With their food bowls just out of
reach," Zarfoss said, "the dogs tethered outside died lunging to get at them.
In desperation, some had dug holes to get at tree roots to eat."


Domestic animals get  little protection from abuse

The Alaska SPCA warned state troopers about the animals' steadily
deteriorating situation months before, but the troopers would not intervene.
Alaska has more protection for wild animals than for domestic ones,
particularly dogs, cats and horses. "It is a disgrace that the laws and big
budgets for domestic animals are frowned upon by the politicians," Alaska
SPCA Executive Director Ethel Christensen said.

Christensen says that for decades the Alaska SPCA has had complaints from
tourists and others asking it to do something about the atrocities in the
areas of the State where there are no local laws. The Alaska SPCA has begged
for help from the State to tighten laws and for a statewide humane officer to
enforce them. Now is an ideal time to create this position.


Animals get a new start in life

The Alaska SPCA rescued 66 dogs including Bouvier des Flandres, Kerry blue
terriers,  malamutes and Australian shepherd-husky mix dogs and brought them
to Anchorage in airline kennels which the people of Anchorage had donated.
There the Alaska SPCA set up triage for  the dogs in a rented warehouse where
the dogs were medicated, groomed and fed. A group of Alaska SPCA volunteers
worked long and hard to give these dogs a new start in life. A malemute named
Stormy was the last of the 66 dogs to be adopted; he left for a new home
several weeks ago with a wagging tail and a bounce in his step.


Cost of rescue puts Alaska SPCA in dire financial straits

The cost of the rescue exceeded $30,000, forcing the Alaska SPCA to take out
a mortgage on its shelter property. The Alaska SPCA is maxed out financially
as it has never received help from any governmental source. "These are the
very people that support the sled dogs for economic reasons," Christensen
said.  "And, little do they realize the picture they have painted to those
outside Alaska."

The Alaska SPCA is a non-profit, privately funded organization with no
affiliation with the government or any other organization. The organization's
founder and Executive Director,  Ethel Christensen, has not taken a salary
since she began the organization in 1966.

How you can help:

Please send your tax-deductible donations to the Alaska SPCA:

Alaska SPCA
549 W. International Airport Road, Ste B2
Anchorage, AK 99518

[Alaska's new Governor is Murkowski]: Write to Alaska Governor Frank
Murkowski to ask that a statewide humane officer, with an adequate support
staff, be
hired immediately. Email: frank_murkowski@...


Visit the Alaska SPCA website page www.alaskaspca.org/gmshelter.html to view
pictures of Boughton's property and to see the welcome the dogs received in
Anchorage.

Margery Glickman is the director of the Sled Dog Action Coalition.
To subscribe to Animals In Print, a free online newsletter, email:
Ljbeane1@....

(Animals In Print has given permission for this article to be reprinted.)

PLEASE CROSSPOST

Tell Wyden and Harkin that having a disability is no excuse for abusing
animals:

http://wyden.senate.gov/contact
Phone: (202) 224-5244
http://harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
Phone: (202) 224-3254

http://www.adn.com/front/story/3549838p-3580895c.html

Iditarod officials decide to reconsider blind musher's petition
Americans With Disabilities Act may apply for Oregon teenager

By ZAZ HOLLANDER
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: July 30, 2003)

WASILLA -- After putting off a decision in June, Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
officials will reconsider special accommodations for a legally blind Oregon
teenager bent on competing next year.

Iditarod Board president Rick Koch has scheduled a special meeting for Sept.
19 with an agenda focused on two questions, Koch said Tuesday.

Does the Americans With Disabilities Act apply to "the last great race," an
1,100-mile odyssey through the Alaska Range to Nome?

And if it does, what can the board do to accommodate 18-year-old Rachael
Scdoris, who wants to run the Iditarod with radio guidance from two
snowmachiners
on some treacherous stretches?

Scdoris formally petitioned the board in early June, but members did not
specifically discuss her request then. They did, however, vote down Koch's
proposal for a broader policy that would allow them to consider accommodation
requests from any disabled entrants.

Later, Iditarod veterans such as Dan Seavey, a board member, said allowing
snowmachine assistance for Scdoris would change the nature of the race and could
jeopardize the safety of other dog teams.

Then, in early July, Scdoris paid her entry fee and signed up for next year's
race, one of 78 mushers and more than 25 rookies to do so.

Koch said he called for the September meeting after receiving numerous
messages urging the board to take action.

"I decided we should talk about this again," he said.

Among letters sent to the board are several attention-grabbers: one from the
attorney who represented disabled golfer Casey Martin in his successful U.S.
Supreme Court bid to use a golf cart on the PGA Tour, one from U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden, D-Ore., and one from U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who authored
the ADA.

All three urge the board to allow Scdoris to run the Iditarod with the type
of assistance she requested, and warn that a court battle over the Iditarod's
ADA obligations could be lengthy.

In his letter, Harkin says he has personally taken "a special interest" in
media coverage of Scdoris' Iditarod bid and believes the landmark legislation
enacted in 1990 does apply to her case.

"I can assure you that an exclusionary decision such as the one taken by the
(Iditarod board) ... is exactly what we in Congress intended to prevent when
we enacted the ADA," Harkin wrote.

It wasn't clear whether Scdoris will travel to Alaska for the September
meeting, though that's a possibility, according to her agent, Paul Herschell,
with
Sports Unlimited in Portland, Ore.

"We understand this is a difficult issue the Iditarod is experiencing for the
first time," Herschell said Tuesday. "We hope everyone will approach the
meeting with an open mind."

Meanwhile, Scdoris is putting together her training plan and choosing
qualifying races, as required of any musher.

She tentatively plans to race in December's Seney 300 Training Run, an Upper
Michigan qualifier, Herschell said. Race organizers are allowing her to use
visual interpreters on snowmachines.

Iditarod officials previously have said that any race that allows outside
assistance violates the rules of the Iditarod and therefore can't be considered
a
qualifier.

Koch, who now supports Scdoris, said that thousands of snowmachines zoom up
and down the trail over the course of the race. Two more to aid the young
musher shouldn't make any difference, he said.

He said it will be up to the board to decide whether Scdoris can qualify
while using help.

Reporter Zaz Hollander can be reached at zhollander@....

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org:

Iditarod race winner Libby Riddles is glorifying the cruel Iditarod dog sled
race in talks on board Princess cruises. In its brochure, Princess asks
passengers to listen as Riddles "shares moments of her inspirational quest."

Rather than being inspirational, the Iditarod is an example of the dark
underbelly of animal abuse and suffering that exists in Alaska. Living tethered
to
four foot chains in their own waste, Iditarod dogs face a bleak existence even
when they are not racing. Some dogs have their vocal cords cut, and many
others are beaten and killed. Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance
of parole.

Please tell Princess that the Iditarod dog sled race is not inspirational and
should not be promoted.

EMAIL: rames@..., media@...

SAMPLE LETTER TO PERSONALIZE:

Dear Mr. Ames:

I understand that Iditarod winner Libby Riddles is promoting the Iditarod dog
sled race on board Princess cruises. Rather than being inspirational, the
Iditarod is an example of barbarism. Please stop promoting this cruel race and
the evils associated with it.

Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run
1,150 miles over a grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days, which is the approximate
distance between Miami and New York City. Dog deaths and injuries are common
in the race. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a
travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome
called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz said
the
race is "a barbaric ritual" and "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today
business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations
minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures, and for more information. Be sure
to read the quotes on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm. All of the material on the site is true
and verifiable.

At least 120 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. In "WinterDance: the Fine
Madness of Running the Iditarod," Gary Paulsen describes witnessing an Iditarod
musher brutally kicking a dog to death during the race. He wrote, "All the time
he was kicking the dog. Not with the imprecision of anger, the kicks, not kicks
to match his rage but aimed, clinical vicious kicks. Kicks meant to hurt
deeply, to cause serious injury. Kicks meant to kill."

Causes of death have also included strangulation in towlines, internal
hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and
pneumonia. "Sudden death" and "external myopathy," a fatal condition in which a
dog's
muscles and organs deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also
occurred. The 1976 Iditarod winner, Jerry Riley, was accused of striking his
dog with a snow hook (a large, sharp and heavy metal claw). In 1996, one of
Rick Swenson's dogs died while he mushed his team through waist-deep water and
ice. The Iditarod Trail Committee banned both mushers from the race but later
reinstated them. In many states these incidents would be considered animal
cruelty. Swenson is now on the Iditarod Board of Directors.

In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for by
inmates and received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold and died.
Another dog died by suffocating on his own vomit.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into their
ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They
understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the same
way
elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And you know what?
They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing
Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that
"‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "Nagging a dog team is
cruel and
ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is
effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers...A whip is
a
very humane training tool."

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies.
Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for
any reason, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to death.
"On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with baseball
bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote
Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March,
2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom
Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain
their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or
dragging them to their death."

The race has led to the proliferation of horrific dog kennels in which the
dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100 dogs and some have as
many as 200. It is standard for the dogs to spend their entire lives outside
tethered to metal chains that can be as short as four feet long. In 1997 the
United States Department of Agriculture determined that the tethering of dogs
was inhumane and not in the animals' best interests. The chaining of dogs as a
primary means of enclosure is prohibited in all cases where federal law
applies. A dog who is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate
where he
sleeps, which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his
living area.

Iditarod dogs are unhappy prisoners with no chance of parole. Please stop
promoting this cruel race.

Sincerely,

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org:

Four-time Iditarod winner Susan Butcher will be featured during USA Network's
PGA Tour coverage of the Bank of America Colonial in its great moments in
women's sports vignettes airing on May 22 and May 23.

Great woman do not rely on using and exploiting animals for their acclaim.
Please ask USA Network, PGA Tour and Bank of America to exclude Butcher from
its great moments in women's sports vignettes. See below for contact
information and a sample letter to personalize.

One of the dogs used by Butcher in the 1994 Iditarod died from exertional
myopathy, otherwise known as "sudden death syndrome."

Eyewitnesses report that Butcher permanently tethers her dogs on short
chains. Tethering is psychologically damaging, cruel and unnatural. A dog who
is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate where he sleeps,
which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his living
area. Dogs are pack animals and tethering prevents them from having normal
interactions.

EMAILS FOR USA Network (Vivendi), Bank of America, and PGA Tour:

eileen.mclaughlin@..., barbara.j.desoer@...,
moorhouse@..., hiross@...,
jeff.hershberger@...

SAMPLE LETTER TO PERSONALIZE:

Dear Ms. McLaughlin, Ms. Desoer, Mr. Moorhouse, Mr. Hershberger and Ms. Ross:

Please do not feature four-time Iditarod race winner Susan Butcher during USA
Network's PGA Tour coverage of the Bank of America Colonial in its great
moments in women's sports vignettes. Great woman do not rely on using and
exploiting animals for their acclaim.

One of the dogs used by Butcher in the 1994 Iditarod died from exertional
myopathy, otherwise known as "sudden death syndrome."

In the book "Susan Butcher and the Iditarod Trail," Ellen Dolan said that
Butcher hallucinated when racing in the Iditarod. A musher who hallucinates
cannot make judgements or care for her dogs. Dolan also said Butcher trained
her dogs by having them pull an ATV.

Eyewitnesses report that Butcher permanently tethers her dogs on short
chains. Tethering is psychologically damaging, cruel and unnatural. A dog who
is permanently tethered is forced to urinate and defecate where he sleeps,
which conflicts with his natural instinct to eliminate away from his living
area. Dogs are pack animals and tethering prevents them from having normal
interactions. Permanent tethering makes many dogs very aggressive.

In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles over a grueling terrain
in 8 to 15 days, which is the approximate distance between New York City and
Miami. Dog deaths and injuries are common in the race. USA Today sports
columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of grueling
proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome called it
"I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz said the race
is "a barbaric ritual" and "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today
business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations
minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures, and for more information. Be
sure to read the quotes on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm. All of
the material on the site is true and verifiable.

At least 120 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. Causes of death have also
included strangulation in towlines, internal hemorrhaging after being gouged
by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and pneumonia. "Sudden death" and
"external myopathy," a fatal condition in which a dog's muscles and organs
deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also occurred. In the
2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to a prison to be cared for by inmates and
received no veterinary care. He was chained up in the cold and died. Another
dog died by suffocating on his own vomit.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into their
ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They
understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the
same way elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And
you know what? They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon
Saraceno's column

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing
Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that
"‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "Nagging a dog team is
cruel and ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all
but is effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog
mushers...A whip is a very humane training tool."

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies.
Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted
for any reason, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to
death. "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with
baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....."
wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper
(March, 2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom
Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain
their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or
dragging them to their death."

Sincerely,

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

Thanks to your emails Hain-Celestial will no longer be involved in the
Iditarod. Please thank them by writing to consumeraffairs@...

A list of organizations that still support this brutal race can be found on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm . Email addresses in block form are
at the bottom of the page.

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

CNN is promoting the barbaric Iditarod dog sled race in an article on its
website. The article ignored all the facts which have caused the Iditarod to
be condemned by animal protection groups and animal lovers, and claimed that
Iditarod rules promote the safe treatment of the dogs.

Please educate CNN's president about Iditarod race cruelties, and ask that
CNN's readers and viewers be given the animal protection viewpoint.

Email:  jim.walton@....

PLEASE PERSONALIZE SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Mr. Walton:

I am outraged that CNN is promoting the barbaric Iditarod dog sled race on
its website and ask that you give your readers and viewers the animal
protection side of the Iditarod story. Contrary to what this article claims,
Iditarod race rules do not promote the safe treatment of dogs. On average,
50% of the dogs who start the race cannot make it across the finish line.

Unlike many dog sled races in the United States, the Iditarod does not ban
the use of whips. Iditarod rules do not require vets to give the dogs
physicals at the checkpoints. In fact, many mushers breeze through many of
the checkpoints so that the dogs only get visual checks, if that. The
Iditarod rules do not require sick and injured dogs to be under a vet's care.
Many sick and injured dogs are sent to a prison to be cared for by inmates
and receive no veterinary care. In the 2001 Iditarod, a sick dog was sent to
this prison, was chained up in the cold, and died.

Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run
1,150 miles over a grueling terrain in 8 to14 days, which is the approximate
distance between Atlanta and Portland, Maine. Dog deaths and injuries are
common in the race. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the
Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox
sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports
columnist George Diaz said the race is "a barbaric ritual" and "an illegal
sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the
race is a "public-relations minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition (SDAC) website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org to see pictures, and for more information. Be
sure to read the quotes on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm.

At least 119 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. Causes of death have also
included strangulation in towlines, internal hemorrhaging after being gouged
by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and pneumonia. "Sudden death" and
"external myopathy," a fatal condition in which a dog's muscles and organs
deteriorate during extreme or prolonged exercise, have also occurred. The
1976 Iditarod winner, Jerry Riley, was accused of striking his dog with a
snow hook (a large, sharp and heavy metal claw). In 1996, one of Rick
Swenson's dogs died while he mushed his team through waist-deep water and
ice. The Iditarod Trail Committee banned both mushers from the race but later
reinstated them. In many states these incidents would be considered animal
cruelty. Swenson is now on the Iditarod Board of Directors.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into their
ears, ‘OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They
understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the
same way elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And
you know what? They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon
Saraceno's column

Beatings and whippings are common. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing
Manual, "I heard one highly respected [sled dog] driver once state that
"‘Alaskans like the kind of dog they can beat on.'" "Nagging a dog team is
cruel and ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all
but is effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog
mushers...A whip is a very humane training tool."

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies.
Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted
for any reason, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to
death. "On-going cruelty is the law of many dog lots. Dogs are clubbed with
baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....."
wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper
(March, 2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom
Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain
their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or
dragging them to their death."

The race has led to the proliferation of concentration-camp-like dog kennels
in which the dogs are treated very cruelly. Many kennels have over 100 dogs
and some have as many as 200. It is standard for the dogs to spend their
entire lives outside tethered to metal chains that can be as short as four
feet long. In 1997 the United States Department of Agriculture determined
that the tethering of dogs was inhumane and not in the animals' best
interests. The chaining of dogs as a primary means of enclosure is prohibited
in all cases where federal law applies. A dog who is permanently tethered is
forced to urinate and defecate where he sleeps, which conflicts with his
natural instinct to eliminate away from his living area. Because he is close
to his own to his own fecal material, a dog can easily catch deadly
parasitical diseases by stepping in or sniffing his own waste.

Please tell your readers and viewers the truth about this abusive race.

Sincerely,

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

On March 2, the Anchorage Daily News revealed that the National Wildlife
Refuge System is one of Aliy Zirkle's sponsors. The Iditarod's musher sponsor
web page had not disclosed this information.

Please tell its director Steven Williams not to use your tax dollars to
promote animal cruelty: contact@...

In the Anchorage Daily News, under the photo of Aliy Zirkle, it said, "
Iditarod veteran and former Yukon Quest champion Aliy Zirkle of Two Rivers
sported a National Wildlife Refuge System temporary tattoo to honor the
system's centennial this year. Zirkle's first work in Alaska was with the
refuge system, one of her sponsors."

(Photo by Erik Hill / Anchorage Daily News)
http://www.adn.com/iditarod/news/story/2705340p-2746512c.html