I believe there is a sizable purse, and prizes for achieving waypoints first. Some of the mushers make product endorsements, I'm sure, but none of them get rich, even the winners. The costs exceed the monetary benefits by a wide margin. I think they do it as a personal challenge. It's way beyond the capabilities of most people. The dogs love it, and they would rather do that that anything. I personally don't think it's abusive at all and is a nice way to celebrate the first Iditarod run in which diptheria vaccines were mushed to Nome from Anchorage in mid winter.
I see far more abused animals at the humane society when we go to use the groom room for Annie. People take on a big dog or cat, even a small one, and then decide they don't want it or can't have it in their apartment. So, the animal goes back to the shelter, or is turned loose to roam until it's picked up by someone else. Often it's someone with the same lack of capability, although they do try to check out the person before they give out an animal. It breaks my heart to see those animals. Some of them will press their bodies against the cage so you can scratch their ear, others bark and snarl.
There's a local animal hero here complete with bronze memorial statue down on the waterfront. She was a stray bull terrier that lived in downtown Juneau in the 1940s. She was well-fed because everybody loved her. They loved her because she "adopted" the ships arriving with tourists and freight. She could tell they were coming long before the humans did and waited on the pier for the people to disembark. I think they made her into an official greeter. To this day there is an organization called "Friends of Patsy Ann," dedicated to animal welfare. To my knowledge they do not object to the Iditarod, although it starts 600 miles from here and ends 1600 miles away. Maybe it's not their business. |
