Thank you Tikaani Thehusky for the detailed breakdown of what happens when a dog is dropped from the team during the Iditarod ... WHAT HAPPENS TO A DROPPED DOG? Any dog who shows signs of fatigue, has any injury of illness, or just plain loses interest in the race (were easily distracted, it happens...) is dropped at an official checkpoint along the race. If the pup shows signs of fatigue, injury, or illness along the trail, the musher will secure them in the sled bag so they can comfortably ride to the next checkpoint. At checkpoint, the Iditarod volunteer vets (who check EVERY dog) will tend to the dog and the condition of that/those dogs will be recorded in the Mushers Vet Book (think of this as kind of a vet inspection record maintained for each and every dog on the team at each and every checkpoint - sort of like a flight log for an aircraft). There is a separate dropped dog form the musher must fill out for who is dropped, a description of the pup, and why they were dropped. Although, a MAJORITY of the dogs dropped are done so because of minor issues (sore muscle, no longer enjoying to run), those who do appear to be having a more urgent, potentially life-threatening medical issue are labeled RED and are on high priority and first to receive care and depart the checkpoint. Those with more minor issues (i.e. muscle strain, paw injury) who are receiving treatment but not of an urgent nature are labeled BLUE and are second out on transport. Lastly, those dogs who are just not in to racing anymore or are being a bit too rambunctious on gangline are labeled WHITE and are the last to depart. The dogs that are left at checkpoint are cared for by volunteers until an air taxi can come and pick them up and the dogs are flown back to Anchorage where more volunteers and vets check on them. If a dog is dropped further into the race and requires swift veterinarian care and treatment, there are hubs at McGrath, Unalakleet, and Nome that have additional dropped dog personnel. All dogs are eventually transported back to Anchorage where arrangements are made prior to the start of the race for the dogs safe transport back to their mushers kennel. Each musher at the beginning of the race must designate a local contact living within 1 hour of Anchorage who can pick up and look after dogs until the musher can return for them A local Veterinarian in Anchorage must also be chosen and designated by the musher in case of need for urgent care. Mushers can start the race with as many as 16 dogs and can finish the race with as few as 5 in harness. Once the race has started, no dogs can be added or replaced along the trail.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 12:59:10 +0000
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