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Dogs in the Iditarod are forced to run approximately 1,000 miles in under two weeks. On average, they must run 100 miles a day, with only a few brief periods of rest. They're subjected to biting winds, blinding snowstorms, and subzero temperatures. Many pull muscles, incur stress fractures, or are afflicted with diarrhea, dehydration, intestinal viruses, or pneumonia.
Each year, up to half the dogs who start the race don’t finish because of exhaustion, illness, injury, or other causes. Aspiration pneumonia, caused by inhaling their own vomit, is the leading cause of death for the dogs who don’t survive the Iditarod. More than 150 dogs have died in the race so far—including three in the 2024 race alone—and that number doesn’t include those who died during the off-season while left chained outside in subfreezing temperatures or who were killed because they didn’t make the grade.
In late 2018 and early 2019, a PETA eyewitness working at two dog kennels owned by former Iditarod champions found widespread neglect and suffering. Dogs were denied veterinary care for painful injuries, kept constantly chained next to dilapidated boxes and plastic barrels in the bitter cold and biting wind, and forced to run even when they were exhausted and dehydrated.
Please send an e-mail to Gregory Chapados, president and chief operating officer of GCI, at [email protected] urging him to end the company’s support of the Iditarod.
Then use the form below to urge Donlin Gold and its parent companies—Barrick Gold Corporation and NOVAGOLD Resources Inc.—to sever their ties with this death race.