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Sled Dog Care Guidelines

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Dear P.R.I.D.E. Visitor:
The board of directors of Mush with P.R.I.D.E. is aware that the Sled Dog Care Guidelines are being misinterpreted & misrepresented by various groups. The guidelines were carefully compiled to educate and inform our fellow mushers. If while reading these guidelines you have questions, please feel free to contact us
Mush with P.R.I.D.E. correspondence may be directed to
P.O. Box 84915, Fairbanks, AK 99708-4915 USA.

Canine Fatalities During Competition

Canine fatalities during competition are a rare but obviously undesirable occurrence. These fatalities can be reduced to an absolute minimum through the adoption by race organizations of a comprehensive program of pre-race screening of dogs, qualifiers for mushers, dog care education, and a publicly available, written policy on handling fatalities when they do occur.

Veterinary experts have advised Mush with P.R.I.D.E. that some medical conditions that are not detectable before or during a race may cause a dog to suddenly die. P.R.I.D.E. also recognizes that accidents that are totally out of the musher's control may endanger a dog's life. P.R.I.D.E. therefore believes that race officials should evaluate the circumstances of any canine fatality and determine if a penalty is warranted. An automatic disqualification without regard to circumstances is inherently unfair to the musher involved and to the competitive nature of the event.

Fatalities involving blatant, physical abuse are extremely rare and must always result in disqualification and other sanction. More common are fatalities in which the musher's negligence played a part. For example, conditions such as pneumonia, dehydration and hypothermia are usually preventable if the musher has taken proper care of the team. Mushers should consult and must cooperate with race veterinarians and other officials who monitor the teams closely, but it is ultimately the mushers' responsibility to keep the dogs healthy, especially in races where there can be hundreds of miles between checkpoints. Accidental deaths resulting from negligence such as use of faulty equipment, loss of sled control, and severe fighting are also usually preventable.

It is unfair both to a musher's remaining dogs and to other competitors to allow a musher to continue racing when his or her own negligence has resulted in the death of a dog. Mushers should be given the option of a voluntary withdrawal for the good of the team or be disqualified when negligence is involved in a fatal illness or accident.

A musher constantly makes decisions during a race that affect the team's competitive standing and simultaneously affect the welfare of the dogs-the length of rest breaks, frequency of feeding, how quickly to pick up and carry a tired dog, when to drop mildly sick dogs, and so on. P.R.I.D.E. believes that the dogs' welfare should supersede competitive considerations and that a strictly enforced and thoroughly explained fatality policy will encourage mushers to exercise extreme caution.

P.R.I.D.E. has found that the following policies have been effective in reducing fatalities and promoting good dog care:

P.R.I.D.E. encourages race organizations to consider this policy for their individual events.

Adopted by the Mush with P.R.I.D.E. Board of Directors

April 22, 1995