On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not make it across the finish line. According to a report published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, of those who do finish, 81 percent have lung damage. A report published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that 61 percent of the dogs who complete the Iditarod have ulcers versus zero percent pre-race.

Iditarod dog kennels are puppy mills. Mushers breed large numbers of dogs and
routinely kill unwanted ones, 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, drowned or clubbed to death. “Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don’t pull are dragged to death in harnesses……” wrote former Iditarod dog handler Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska’s Bush Blade Newspaper.

Dog beatings and whippings are common. During the 2007 Iditarod, eyewitnesses
reported that musher Ramy Brooks kicked, punched and beat his dogs with a ski pole and a chain. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, “Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective…A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective.” “It is a common training device in use among dog mushers…”

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.”

During the race, veterinarians do not give the dogs physical exams at every checkpoint. Mushers speed through many checkpoints, so the dogs get the briefest visual checks, if that. Instead of pulling sick dogs from the race, veterinarians frequently give them massive doses of antibiotics to keep them running.

Most Iditarod dogs are forced to live at the end of a chain when they aren’t hauling people around. It has been reported that dogs who don’t make the main team are never taken off-chain. Chained dogs have been attacked by wolves, bears and other animals. Old and arthritic dogs suffer terrible pain in the blistering cold.

Margery Glickman
Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org

I just stumbled across this quote and thought it was relevant.

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and wrtie, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

— Alvin Toffler

This experience has been an eyeopener!

We are fortunate that most of the students have access to technology at our school. However, there are students who do not . In response to jillbay – I look for opportunites during class to let students without home tech support to use the computer. Done on a consistent basis, this seems to be helpful. They also have the support of their peers to help “get up to speed”. I realize this may be difficult for students needing to work on long term projects, however, providing copies of resources, possibly having a volunteer ( teacher, parent, another student) type up a rough draft that has been previously completed by the student at home – would free up time so students would have time to practice revising and refining work in class, as well as, experiment with new technologies or navagation skills.