Ask ESPN to Reject the Iditarod (Peta Action Alert)

[Catchawave]

Ask ESPN to Reject the Iditarod

http://www.peta.org/alert/automation/AlertItem.asp?id=1180
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We have learned that ESPN is considering airing the 2005 Iditarod dog sled race.

Today’s Iditarod bears no resemblance to the original event, which was an emergency delivery of diphtheria serum. Participants, very few of whom are indigenous Alaskans, are only interested in the cash prize—and they will stop at little to win it.

On average, dogs are forced to run 125 miles a day, with only a few brief intervals for rest. They are subjected to biting winds, blinding snowstorms, subzero temperatures, and falls through treacherous ice into frigid water. Their feet become bruised, bloodied, cut by ice, and worn out because of the vast distances they cover. Many dogs pull muscles, incur stress fractures, or become sick with diarrhea, dehydration, intestinal viruses, or bleeding stomach ulcers. Dogs have been strangled by tow lines, trampled by moose, and hit by snowmobiles and sleds.

Dogs die every year in the Iditarod, often of hypothermia, gastric ulcers, or “sled dog myopathy”¯literally being run to death. About a third of the 1,500 dogs who start the race are pulled out because of sickness, injury, or exhaustion.

Please write a polite letter to the CEO of ESPN, telling him that you’ll be tuning in elsewhere if ESPN decides to air the race.

George W. Bodenheimer, CEO
EPSN, Inc.
ESPN Plaza
935 Middle St.
Bristol, CT 06010
860-766-2213 (fax)

[theoceansnerves]

1. post this in the lounge or general discussion

and i guarantee you'll get 99% replies of "but the dogs like it!"

[Catchawave]

2. LOL....I know what you mean....

...the word Peta seems to set off a firestorm of nasty posts though, maybe I'll post an alert from Margaret Glickman's (?) Help Sled Dogs website instead.

[flvegan]

3. Better yet, go for the Triple Lindey:

Post a PETA anti-hunting alert, and link to their anti-fishing site (fishinghurts.org, I think).