Two dogs died over the weekend during Alaska’s annual Iditarod sled dog race, marking the first deaths during the race in five years and renewing calls to end the 1,000-mile competition that sees mushers and their canine teams traverse mountain ranges, a frozen river and sea ice — often during treacherous weather.
Bog, a 2-year-old male on musher Issac Teaford’s team, collapsed Sunday morning about 200 feet short of the checkpoint in the village of Nulato, a former Russian trading post located 582 miles into the race across the Alaska wilderness. He died despite a veterinarian performing CPR for about 20 minutes.
A second dog, George, a 4-year-old male on musher Hunter Keefe’s team, also collapsed and died despite attempts to revive him, a race statement said.
George died on the trail about 35 miles outside of the village of Kaltag, which is 629 miles into the race.
A necropsy did not determine a cause of death for Bog, and the Iditarod said further testing will be conducted. A necropsy on George will also be conducted.
Keefe, of Knik, and Teaford, of Salt Lake City, both voluntarily quit the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Sunday. Under the race rules, they risked being withdrawn by the race marshal otherwise.
