Native American mushers Mike Williams, Ramy Brooks, and John Baker sign up for Iditarod 2001
Many will have received and read the letters sent out by animal rights activists in regards to Dr. John Bramante and the April 1st story on him that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News. This is Dr. Bramante's response, printed as a letter to the editor. The whole text is:
Iditarod reporter's disregard for truth a discredit to Daily News
This is in response to the Daily News piece "Over the limit; dogs in pain promptsmall kennel musher to give up the Iditarod" (April 1). I am the small-kennel musher referred to, and I feel that the Daily News' reporter's disregard for the truth is offensive and is a discredit to the newspaper.
The Iditarod is inherently tough, but it is also the highlight of the career of these dogs. The driver's responsibility is to have prepared them adequately and then to care for them over the course of the race. Dogs that struggle are left to a trustworthy crew of volunteer dog handlers. My dogs and I had as clean a run as possible this year. They were strong and fast, and I literally had to stand on the track (sled brake) until Unalakleet to keep their speed down.
It is purely and simply inaccurate reporting that I am not running the race again "because of the wear and tear it inflicted" on my dogs. It seems that your reporter conceived a touchy-feely story and decided that I would fit as her main character. Unfortunately, she is a journalist, not a fiction writer, and someone in the organization is supposed to be checking the facts. It is remiss that my opinions could be so misrepresented, especially regarding such a sensitive topic.
-- John P. Bramante MD, Kasilof
Rodman Incident
Assertion: "...in the 1999 Iditarod, a three year old male dog died of acute pneumonia. His life would have been saved had his illness been properly treated. Other dogs die after the race from infection, exhaustion or other causes. Many dogs return to their kennels permanently disabled and are shot by their musher."
FactsThe late Don Bowers, a musher/teacher/writer/ex-Air Force pilot thought worthy enough to work on Colin Powell's staff at the Pentagon before retiring, personally talked with the musher who lost the dog within an hour of the incident, as well as the vet who made the initial report. It was determined by pathologists, said Bowers, that the fluid in the dog's airways was of gastric origin (vomit). A sufficient volume was aspirated (inhaled into the lungs) resulting in suffocation and death. Further tests, including the microscopic evaluation of lung tissues, have demonstrated that death occurred as the direct result of aspiration (inhalation) of vomit, which created an airway obstruction and immediate suffocation. This helps explain why previous signs were not detected by veterinarians or the musher, despite the tests done.
This happens to backyard dogs, too. In fact, by sheer coincidence, my own vet, while acknowledging her shortcoming in this specialized field of the working dog, once treated a pampered poodle who died of the same thing while chasing a ball tossed by its owner in its own backyard.
Rodman, the dog in question, went down only a couple of miles before the checkpoint. Yet, as with the backyard dog, no amount of medical care short of having a vet on-scene in less than a minute could have saved it, and even then it would have been doubtful. As I have discovered, the same thing happens to dogs playing in fenced-in back yards or on walks with their owners, and they die just as suddenly--as do humans who are similarly stricken while jogging or exercising.
Native American Mushers
Assertion: The Humane Society of the United States says, "With the annual cost of putting together a competitive Iditarod team estimated at up to $60,000, very few native Alaskans are able to participate."
Fact: While no one will argue that preparing for and running the Iditarod is an expensive prospect, one does have to wonder why, if critics are so concerned about the dwindling number of those with Native ancestry running the race, they chose to target Ramy Brooks in 2000. Brooks is part Yupik Eskimo and part Athabascan Indian, two indigenous Alaskan native groups that trace their existence in Alaska back more than 10,000 years and he comes from one of the most respected mushing families in Alaska. Yet, Brooks was made a target, as have been other Native mushers such as John Baker and Mike Williams.