Two dogs died over the weekend in the Iditarod race across Alaska, the first such deaths in five years during the grueling 1,000-mile contest.
On Sunday, 4-year-old George collapsed and died on the trail about 660 miles into the race.
“Attempts to revive George were unsuccessful,” The Iditarod said in a short statement, noting that a board-certified pathologist will perform a necropsy “to make very attempt to determine the cause of death.”
Just a day earlier, 2-year-old Bog collapsed about 200 feet from the checkpoint at Nulato.
“CPR was administered for 20 minutes, but Bog unfortunately did not survive,” race officials said in another statement about the male dog. His necropsy yielded no cause of death and Iditarod officials said more testing would be conducted.
George was part of the team led by musher Hunter Keefe and collapsed at about 10 a.m., and Bog was part of musher Issac Teaford’s team. Both mushers later dropped out of the race voluntarily, in line with Iditarod rules that allow officials to force them out if a dog did not die from an “unpreventable hazard” such as a run-in with a moose, according to Alaska Public Media.
Keefe is from Knik and Teaford from Salt Lake City. Both were relative novices in the race, as Keefe was running his second, having finished 11th last year, and Teaford was on his first race.
Last month two mushers were disqualified, though one was reinstated, for issues related to conduct.
Bog’s death marked the first such fatality in five years during the race, after 5-year-old female Oshi on musher Richie Beattie’s team died of pneumonia after the race in 2019. He was disqualified. Five dogs died this year after being hit by snowmobiles during practice, so now all the dogs are outfitted with neon collars.
The deaths sparked another outcry by animal advocacy group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“The death count keeps climbing for dogs who are forced to run until their bodies break down, all so the human winner can get a trophy while the dogs get an icy grave,” PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien said in a statement. “PETA is calling for this despicable race to end.”
With News Wire Services
