Annual I killed a dog race

PETA usually cracks me up and scares at other times. They put the value of animals over the life of humans (its true, if you check their by-laws and there terrorist activity against animal testing labs, etc...) but they're right on the nose for this thing. Imagine you had the ability to run endless at top speed. Would you use this special talent and run yourself into the ground? Probably not. These guys abuse the hell out of these animals out of some stupid tradition. If someone forced you to be awesome all the time and I understand it might be hard for some people (J/K) you would go nuts. So why force these animals to do this. They don't even know what the hell is going on.

Musher Accused of Cruelty, PETA Calls for End to Iditarod

As the 1,000-mile Iditarod sled dog race through Alaska comes to a close, the event is under more scrutiny than ever before because of charges that a top musher abused his dogs. Ramy Brooks was disqualified this year after race officials said he beat his dogs. And now a schoolteacher has told the Anchorage Daily News that the abuse was more severe than had been previously reported.

When Brooks' team refused to move, said 28-year-old Maude Paniptchuk, who teaches kindergarten through second grade at Golovin School, he kicked the dogs and hit them with his fist and a ski pole. He didn't merely spank them with a thin piece of lath used as a trail marker, as Iditarod officials said Sunday.


People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says the entire event, by its very nature, is cruel. PETA notes that dogs die during the Iditarod regularly, and that many more dogs are injured, and the organization says criminal charges should be brought against Brooks. Alaska's state police say they will not conduct a criminal investigation. In any event, this week's news is a black eye for the Iditarod.