[Publib] Animal cruelty

[MacLean,Jim]

Take me back, why are we discussing this on PUBLIB?
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Annette Weiss
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 6:22 PM
To: Michele Haytko
Cc: Sanbornton Public Library; publib
Subject: Re: [Publib] Animal cruelty



Please pardon my ignorance. But does this conversation have anything to do
with public libraries? I find it of no interest and not on topic.

Annette

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So let me get this straight: You want information about why reference
 librarians always answer a question with another question, right?

Annette Weiss                         Phone:  (248) 553-0300
Adult Services Librarian              Fax:    (248) 553-3228
                                      E-Mail: weissann at metronet.lib.mi.us
Farmington Community Library
32737 W. 12 Mile Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



On Thu, 13 Jul 2006, Michele Haytko wrote:

> While I, of course, am not Margery, here is a PETA factsheet on dog
> sledding, complete with citations.  It can be found online at:
> http://www.peta.org/MC/factsheet_display.asp?ID=130
>
> Sled Dog Racing: Death on the Trails
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Imagine "racing your dog from Orlando to New York, depriving him of
> sleep to complete the course as quickly possible, mushing though
> waist-deep water and ice, with the dog losing about 10 pounds through
> the ordeal."(1) Or consider tethering yourself "to 15 other runners on
> a 50-foot gangline while pulling 400 pounds. Imagine flipping on your
> back and being dragged down an icy incline."(2) That's how two sports
> columnists have described the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a grueling
> expedition from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, which kicks off every
> March. It's only one of several such races in which mushers, or
> dog-sled drivers, compete for thousands of dollars and other prizes.
> Meanwhile, the dogs, viewed as little more than snowmobiles with fur,
> are lucky if they finish the race alive or without serious injuries.
>
> The Most Notorious of Races
> About 1,500 dogs start the Iditarod, but more than one-third are flown
> out every year because they become sick, injured, or exhausted from
> being forced to run for hours through jagged mountain ranges, frozen
> rivers, dense forests, and desolate tundra in biting winds, blinding
> snowstorms, and temperature fluctuations from 40 degrees above to 60
> degrees below zero.(3,4) The dogs, usually husky mixes weighing only
> 40 to 45 pounds, are usually tethered to 15 other runners and
> 400-pound sleds. They must run about 125 miles per day, often racing
> as many as six hours at a time, with just a few hours' sleep each
> day.(5,6) The race can take nine to 14 days.(7)
>
> The dogs' feet become bruised and bloodied, cut by ice, and just plain
> worn out from the tremendous stretch of ground that they cover. Many
> pull muscles, incur stress fractures, or become sick with intestinal
> viruses or bleeding stomach ulcers. In his capacity as a volunteer
> veterinarian for the race, Scott Moore "saw dogs with torn Achilles
> tendons, dehydration, diarrhea, hypothermia, hyperthermia,
> inflammation in the wrists and soreness in shoulders from the
> harnesses."(8)
>
> Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz wrote that the Iditarod "is
> nothing more than a barbaric ritual that gives Alaskan cowboys a
> license to kill."(9) At least one or two dogs die every year and the
> causes range from strangulation in towlines to internal hemorrhaging
> to being trampled by moose or suffering from liver injuries, heart
> failure, and pneumonia. Wolf, a 5-year old dog in musher Lance
> Mackey's team, died when he regurgitated food and choked on it.(10)
> Takk, a 7-year-old dog on musher Kjetil Backen's team, died of blood
> loss associated with gastric ulcers.(11) It has been estimated that
> the Iditarod death rate is 2.9 fatalities for every 1,000 competitors;
> if the Boston Marathon suffered deaths at the same rate, 290 human
> runners would have died during the 1990s.(12) At least 120 dogs have
> died during the Iditarod since 1973, and that does not include dogs
> who died after the race.(13)
>
> Even if dogs survive a race, they may die afterwards. Dr. Paula
> Kislak, president of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal
> Rights, has stated, "With a buildup of lactic acid and other chemicals
> from muscle degradation as a result of extreme exercise, toxicity in
> the liver and kidneys may not cause death for days or weeks after a
> race."(14) A study published in the American Journal of Respiratory
> and Critical Care Medicine found that of the 59 dogs' airways 24 to 48
> hours after a race, 81 percent had "abnormal accumulations" of mucous
> or cellular debris in their lower airways. Further, the lung damage
> was classified as moderate to severe in nearly half of the dogs.(15)
>
> There are other grueling and deadly although not as well-publicized
> endurance races, including the Flambeau International Sled Dog
> Classic, the Copper Basin 300, Sky Sled Dog Race, and the Yukon Quest
> International Sled Dog Race.
>
> Suffering Behind the Scenes
> Thousands of dogs are bred to run in sled races, but not every puppy
> is born a fast runner. Those who do not make the grade are "culled."
> Some culled dogs are sold or given away, but many are euthanized,
> abandoned, shot, bludgeoned, or drowned.
>
> Frank Winkler, a two-time Iditarod racer, was charged with 14 counts
> of cruelty to animals after an animal control officer found a crate of
> dead and dying puppies in a truck. Winkler, who claimed he couldn't
> afford to take the animals to a veterinarian to be euthanized,
> allegedly bludgeoned the puppies with the blunt end of an ax.
> According to court documents, Winkler said that he shot some of the
> dogs and was just following advice from fellow mushers.(16) Musher
> Lorraine Temple justified shooting dogs in a 1999 interview by saying,
> "They can't keep a dog who's a mile an hour too slow."(17)
>
> Most dogs live in cramped kennels that are usually not inspected by
> any regulatory agency. Kennel operators often keep dogs tethered on
> short ropes or chains or confined to tiny spaces. Margery Glickman, a
> retired elementary-school teacher who founded the nonprofit Sled Dog
> Action Coalition (SDAC), was vacationing in Alaska and happened upon a
> "dog farm," where more than 200 animals were being raised to race in
> the Iditarod. "I found the conditions horrific," Glickman told The
> Miami Herald. "The dogs live tethered permanently on these short
> leashes."(18) More than 60 "neglected underweight dogs ... kept in an
> area strewn with feces," were found at the Klondike Dreams kennel,
> which offered dog-sled rides to tourists.(19) Nearly 30 malnourished
> sled dogs were seized from David Straub, who has run the Iditarod
> three times. Straub was charged with 17 counts of cruelty to animals
> and the dogs were confiscated.(20)
>
> At the largest tourist dog sledding operation in the U.S., Krabloonik
> Kennel in Aspen, Colorado, as many as 35 dogs have been killed
> annually by a gunshot to the head, according to a former employee.(21)
> Krabloonik's manager defended the killings, saying, "[Culling dates]
> back hundreds of years. This is nothing new .... This is part of the
> circle of life for the dog-sled dog."(22)
>
> Profiting From Pain and Misery
> Like any other tourist attraction, the motive of the Iditarod and
> similar races is money. USA Today sportswriter Jon Saraceno, who
> dubbed the race the "Ihurtadog," reported, "The economic impact to
> Anchorage, site of the ceremonial star, is estimated at more than $5
> million .... The dogs, of course, get their usual take. More
> suffering."(23) Hartford Courant sports columnist Jeff Jacoby concurs
> that the Iditarod is nothing more than "shameful marketing carried out
> on the backs of defenseless animals."(24)
>
> Sponsors of the Iditarod have included Cabela's, Wells Fargo, GCI,
> Anchorage Chrysler Dodge, ABC Alaska's Superstation, Anchorage Daily
> News, Chevron, FredMeyer, Millennium Alaskan Hotel, and PenAir.
>
> What You Can Do
> Do not patronize the Iditarod or other sled dog races or tourist
> attractions that include dog-sled rides. If you are planning a trip to
> Alaska, be sure to let your travel agent know that you do not want any
> packages that include dog sled rides. Let sponsors of sled dog races
> know you don't support businesses that support such cruelty. Over the
> years, companies like Nestlé, Rite Aid, Irridium World Communications,
> Safeway, Maxwell House Brand, True Value Hardware, BP Amoco,
> Sherwin-Williams, Upjohn, Tropicana, Pizza Hut, Costco, and Pfizer
> Pharmacia have canceled their sponsorship after hearing from people
> opposed to the races that they sponsored.
>
> Support human sled races! Lowell, Massachusetts, for instance, hosts
> the National Human Dogsled Championships in February as part of its
> annual WinterFest, in which dozens of teams of humans dress up in
> crazy costumes and race for the finish line.(25) In New York City, the
> "Idiotarod" features some 500 human racers pushing shopping carts from
> over the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan.(26)
>
>
> References
> 1) George Diaz, "Iditarod Dog Deaths Unjustifiable," Orlando Sentinel,
> 5 Mar. 2000.
> 2) Jon Saraceno, "Grueling Iditarod Not Even Fit for Dogs," USA Today,
> 3 Mar. 1999.
> 3) Mike Brassfield, "Sledding in the Sunshine," St. Petersburg Times,
> 5 Jan. 2003.
> 4) Judy Chia Hui Hsu, "Everything Turns to Mush," Seattle Times, 5 Jan. 2005.
> 5) Judy and Richard Schiller, "Sled Dogs and Mushers," Crooked Creek
> Observer, 11 Feb, 1997.
> 6) Chia Hui Hsu.
> 7) Brassfield.
> 8) Jami Badershall, "Cody Veterinarian Gets Kick out of Iditarod,"
> Cody Enterprise, 26 Mar. 2004.
> 9) Diaz.
> 10) Joel Gay and Craig Medred, "Leader's Dog Dies on Trail," Anchorage
> Daily News, 15 Mar. 2004.
> 11) Iditarod XXXII Advisory, 14 Mar. 2004.
> 12) Saraceno, "Grueling Iditarod Not Even Fit For Dogs."
> 13) Saraceno, "As Death Toll of Dogs Rises, So Does Iditarod's
> Insanity," USA Today, 14 Mar. 2004.
> 14) "Victims of Cold, Fatigue and Greed," The Press Democrat, 20 Mar. 2004.
> 15) M.S. Davis et al., "Racing Alaskan Sled Dogs as a Model of 'Ski
> Asthma,'" American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine,
> 6(2002): 878-82.
> 16) Julia Rubin, "The 'Ugly Side' of Dog Racing; Alaskan Mushers Weed
> Out Canines That Don't Make the Team," The Washington Post, 29 Nov.
> 1991.
> 17) Diaz.
> 18) D, "Iditarod, Hailed As Greatest Dog Race? Call It Grotesque
> Shame, Animal Abuse," The Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2002.
> 19) "Homes Found for Most Dogs Removed From Squalid Kennel,"
> Associated Press, 6 May 1999.
> 20) Heidi Loranger, "Starving Dogs Recovering at Shelter," KTVA 11, 20
> Oct. 2004.
> 21) "Killing Techniques Being Questioned at Dog Sledding Operation
> Near Aspen," Associated Press, 5 Apr. 2005.
> 22) Chad Abraham, "Krabloonik Defends Culling of Pack. Long-Term
> Employee: 'We're All Dog Owners Here,'" The Aspen Times, 5 Apr. 2005.
> 23) Saraceno, "As Death Toll of Dogs Rises, So Does Iditarod's Insanity."
> 24) Saraceno, "Iditarod No More Than Dog Abuse," USA Today, 5 Mar. 2001.
> 25) Walter Roessing, "Lowell Race Is Doggone Funny," The Boston
> Herald, 27 Jan. 2005.
> 26) Valerie Fuchs, "Madness, Sabotage and a Cart Race Across NYC,"
> Washington Square News, 31 Jan. 2005.
>
> --
> **************)0(**************
> Mrs. C. Michele Haytko
> Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library
> MC-NPL Computer Lab
> 1001 Powell Street
> Norristown, PA 19401
> 610-278-5100 Ext. 141
>
> Just because I am paranoid doesn't mean they are not after me....
> _______________________________________________
> Publib mailing list
> Publib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/publib
>

_______________________________________________
Publib mailing list
Publib at webjunction.org
http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/publib