From The Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org :

Barbaric dog-torture continues at the hands of cold-hearted Iditarod mushers. Please help the dogs who are forced to run in the Iditarod dog sled race by sending protest emails to race sponsors and promoters.

Here's a short list of what happens to the dogs during the race: death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding ulcers, broken bones, pneumonia, ruptured discs, hypothermia, broken teeth, viral diseases, torn footpads and lung damage.

Stories about the dogs receiving top-notch health care don't square with the facts. Dogs are often sick before the Iditarod starts but are made to race anyway. While some sick dogs are dropped during the race, others are given massive doses of antibiotics to keep them going.

Below is a list of organizations that are 2005 Iditarod race sponsors, musher sponsors or Iditarod promoters. Emails are first given in block form and then individually under the sample letter. Email addresses with semi-colons in block form can be found on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/sponsors.htm on the bottom of the page.

BLOCK EMAILS:

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],  [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

PLEASE PERSONALIZE SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___

Please stop supporting the barbaric Iditarod with all the evils associated with it.

Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run 1,150 miles, which is the approximate distance between Dallas and Cleveland over a grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz said the race is "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website http://www.helpsleddogs.org and be sure to read the quotes on http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm . All the material on the site is true and verifiable.

At least 122 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of dog deaths available for the race's early years. Here's a short list of what happens to the dogs during the race: death, paralysis, penile frostbite, bleeding ulcers, broken bones, pneumonia, ruptured discs, hypothermia, broken teeth, viral diseases, torn footpads and lung damage.

On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not even make it across the finish line. Of those that finish, 81 percent have lung damage. No one knows how many dogs die in training or after the race. A report published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that 48.5 percent of the dogs who participate in the Iditarod have ulceration, tissue erosion, gastric hemorrhage, or a combination of these conditions.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into their ears, 'OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the same way elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And you know what? They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived their usefulness are killed with a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March, 2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or dragging them to their death."

Please end your organization's association with this horrific race.

Sincerely,

IDITAROD SPONSORS:

Fort Dodge Animal Health (Wyeth)
Email: [email protected]

Daimler Chrysler
Email: [email protected]

Coca-Cola
Email: [email protected]

Outback Steakhouse
Email [email protected]

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels
Email: [email protected]

Wells Fargo & Company
Email:[email protected]

Kroger Co. (Fred Meyer Stores)
Email: [email protected]

Spenard Builders (Lanoga Corporation)
Email: [email protected]

Office Tech (Global Imaging Systems, Inc.)
Email: [email protected]

ChevronTexaco Corportation
Email: [email protected]

Exxon Mobil Corporation
Email: [email protected]

Coors Brewing Company
Email: [email protected]

Anchorage Daily News (Mc Clatchy Company)
Email: [email protected]

Providence Health System
Email: [email protected]

Cabelas
Email: [email protected]

Comtec Business Systems
Email:[email protected]

Global Information Technologies
Email: [email protected]

Alaska Airlines (Alaska Air Group)
Email: [email protected]

Too Far Publishing
Email: [email protected]

IDITAROD PROMOTERS

Workman Publishing Company
Email: [email protected]

Carnival Corporation (Princess Cruises)
Email: [email protected]

Scholastic Corporation
Email: [email protected]

Travel Channel (Discovery Networks) promoter)
Email: [email protected]

PBS Teacher Source
Email: [email protected]

Elderhostel, Inc.
Email: [email protected]

Fodor's Travel Publications (Random House, Bertelsmann)
Email: [email protected], [email protected],  [email protected]

Frommer's Guides (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Avalon Travel Publications
Email: [email protected]

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Email: [email protected]

Outdoor Channel (Global Outdoors, Inc.)
Email: [email protected]

Brian L. Roberts, CEO
Outdoor Life Network (Comcast Corp.)
1500 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: 215-665-1700
Fax: 215-981-7790
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]

Petplace.com (Intelligent Content, Corp.)
Email: [email protected]

TIME for Kids
Email: [email protected]

Women's Sports Foundation
Email: [email protected]

Academy of Achievement
Email: [email protected]

Insight Guides (APA Publications/Langenscheidt Publications)
Email: [email protected]

Sasquatch Books
Email: [email protected]

Rough Guides (The Penguin Group)
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.
Email: [email protected]

MUSHER SPONSORS:

Stancorp Financial Group, Inc.
Email: [email protected] , [email protected]

Helly Hansen (Investcorp International, Inc.)
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
Email: [email protected]

Patagonia (Lost Arrow Corporation)
Email: [email protected]

Eukanuba/Iams (Procter & Gamble Company)
Email: [email protected]

Hanons/Safeway (Safeway, Inc.)
Email: [email protected]

Blockbuster Video
Email: [email protected]

McDonalds Restaurants of the Kenai Peninsula (McDonald Corporation)
Email: [email protected]

Marsh USA (Marsh & McLennan Companies)
Email: [email protected]

AT&T Alascom (AT&T)
Email: [email protected]

PMI Nutrition Pet Foods (Purina Mills/Land O'Lakes, Inc.)
Email: [email protected]

Ford Motor Company
Email: [email protected]

General Motors
Email: [email protected]

Taco Bell/Denali Foods (Franchisor: Yum! Brands, Inc.)
Email: [email protected]

Lowe's Home Improvement (Lowe's Companies, Inc.)
Email: [email protected]

UGI Corporation (AmeriGas)
Email: [email protected]

Northern Outfitters
Email: [email protected]

Udelhoven Companies (Udelhoven Oilfield System)
Email: [email protected]

Patrick Henry Creative Promotions
Email: [email protected]

American Seafoods Group
Email: [email protected]

Annamaet Petfoods
Email: [email protected]

Eagle Premium Pet Foods/Eagle Pet Products, Inc.
Email: [email protected]

Breg, Inc.
Email: [email protected]

Dogbooties.com (a division of Arrowhead Fabric)
Email: [email protected]

Grabber Performance Group
Email: [email protected]

Blackwood Dog Food (The Blackwood Corporation)
Email: [email protected]

Redpaw Feeds
Email: [email protected]

Fogtech
Email: [email protected]

Oak View Elementary School
Email: [email protected]

Edmund Industrial Optics
Email: [email protected]

American Dehydrated Foods, Inc.
Email: [email protected]

Atta Boy (American Nutrition, Inc.)
Email: [email protected]

Arctic Cat Inc.
Email: [email protected]

Gander Mountain
Email: [email protected]

Cirrus Design Corporation
Email: [email protected]

Borton Automotive, Inc.
Email: [email protected]

WHSmith and Sons, Ltd.
Email: [email protected]

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
Email: [email protected]

Icicle Seafoods, Inc.
Email: [email protected]

Wilder Construction Company
Email: [email protected]

Thomas Jefferson Middle School
Email: [email protected]

Patrick McGaheran School
Email: [email protected]

D.H. Blattner & Sons, Inc.
Email: [email protected]

Adventure Unlimited Ranches
Email: [email protected]

Longfellow Elementary School
Email: [email protected]

United Railroad Materials Company
Email: [email protected]

Senior Sojourns, Inc.
Email: [email protected]

Ophir Gold Ltd.
Email: [email protected]

Batteries Plus
Email: [email protected]

Grossman Chevrolet
Email: [email protected]

Multi-Pak Corporation
Email: [email protected]

Royal Canin USA, Inc.
Email: [email protected]

Pro Pac Pet Food (Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. )
Email: [email protected]

Beaver Sports
Email: [email protected]

Montana Travel
Email: [email protected]

Bill Hanson, Attorney
Email: [email protected]

AF Ragnar Evensen AS
Email: [email protected]

Wolfsong Wear
Email: [email protected]

Historical Chocolate Company
Email: [email protected]

LeepinLiz Designs
Email: [email protected]

June Shelley
Email: [email protected]

Reflective "Puppy Parkas"
Email: [email protected]

Innisbrook Wraps
Email: [email protected]

Windigo Outfitters in Iron River
Email: [email protected]

Cold Spot Feeds
Email: [email protected]

The Ungar Foundation
P.O. Box 752
Copake, NY 12516

Harry L. McGinnis Middle School
17 Atther Road
Buena Vista, CO 80345
Phone: 719-395-7060

Amaize (Marsland Laboratories)
Email message box: http://www.amaize.com/dealer_inq.htm

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