Liberty Media, which owns Formula 1 racing and other big-name assets — like Live Nation Entertainment — oversees Liberty Broadband and its subsidiary General Communication Inc., aka GCI, which is an Alaskan communications company that sponsors the Iditarod and provides services for the event.
Every year since 1973, dogs in the race have pulled mushers nearly 1,000 miles, from Anchorage to Nome, to commemorate the heroic and historic Great Race of Mercy, which saw a life-saving serum delivered between the two cities via sled dog during the 1925 Nome diphtheria epidemic.
Since the event first began, over 150 dogs have died as a result of the race's freezing conditions and brutal pace.
PETA and its supporters have been protesting the race for years, with the group's latest efforts coming last Thursday, November 30. Four members were arrested for the Colorado protest; two of them sealed their feet in concrete and chained themselves to metal posts.
“I did it for the dogs,” says Chandra Fuller, a local mother who cemented her feet and got tossed behind bars. "Jail was super uncomfortable, but the several hours that we did spend in jail is nothing compared to the lifetime of isolation the dogs experience at the end of a chain when they’re not being forced to race.”
Protesters want Liberty Media subsidiary GCI to cut ties with the Iditarod.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
“They're forced to race against their will," she said. "No dog would ever choose to run to their death.”
The four people who got arrested, including Fuller and nineteen-year-old Mason Melito — who also encased his feet in concrete and chained himself to a metal post — were taken to Douglas County Jail following their arrests. Police and firefighters were both called out to the protest. They had to use bolt cutters to unchain Fuller and Melito, and a jackhammer to get their feet out of the concrete.
During the Iditarod this March, 175 dogs were pulled from the race due to exhaustion, illness or injury, according to PETA. Supporters point out how there are dog health checkpoints along the way where canine competitors can be pulled before they die, as well as recent rule changes aimed to promote dog safety, as evidence that the sport is improving.
But PETA and other animal welfare groups, like the Sled Dog Action Coalition, have continued to raise questions about the ethics of the event and point to the number of dogs pulled off the course to show how dangerous the race is for the animals. Fuller hopes her protest and arrest will bring more awareness to the plight of the Iditarod sled dogs.
Racheli Holstein, a PETA campaign manager who was arrested while filming last Thursday's protest, says people should consider their pets being in that situation. "These dogs are not superdogs,” she says. “They’re dogs just like the ones we have at home.” Holstein adds that PETA successfully convinced former Iditarod sponsors like Alaska Airlines, Chrysler and ExxonMobil to end their sponsorship, so there is evidence that protests like this work.
“We really want to encourage more people to...hopefully take action and encourage Liberty to cut their ties with this deadly dog race,” she says.
Liberty and GCI declined to comment on the Englewood demonstration.
Along with chaining themselves and putting their feet in concrete, the PETA protesters wore dog masks and painted the words "FUNDS DOG DEATHS" on the Liberty Media Corporation HQ sign. The nonprofit sent out a press release on their efforts, blasting the Iditarod as a "dog death race."
The protesters were arrested for vandalism, though they note that the paint was non-permanent and will wash out quickly. Holstein says they are still waiting to hear what the next steps are regarding specific charges.
“Sometimes bold actions like this are necessary in order to grab people's attention and to initiate real change for animals,” Fuller concludes.
