Dear Editor,
In response to: ‘Iditarod race is dog torture, cruelty,? The Citizen, June 18, page 6:
Congratulations to Joe Gutowski for first, qualifying for the Iditarod and second, an excellent response to the person who claims that the Iditarod is ‘torture? and ‘cruel.? The writer obviously has no facts on which to base her claims. While in Alaska sometime ago we had the privelage of touring Mitch Seavey’s kennels. At that time, Mitch had 75 dogs of various ages and stages of training. We were able to go anywhere we wanted to look around and walked around with Mitch and saw these dogs go absolutely crazy just at the sight of him! We also could see their living conditions and how well they were cared for. As we were there in the summer, they use a sled with wheels for training. As part of the tour we were able to go along for a short 2-mile ride. Let me tell you, all of the dogs started to go crazy when they saw the harnesses, seeming to be begging to be picked to go and those that were then chosen were dancing and jumping like mad while waiting for everyone to be hitched up. As soon as Mitch gave the signal, they were off like a shot. As for the complainant, she should do some research and as suggested, go tour a sled dog facility before she makes false statements. To you Joe – Good luck!! Kathy Williams
Clarston