Friday, March 27, 1998
Copyright 1998 Anchorage Daily News
2 more dogs die, Iditarod reports
By DOUG O'HARRA
Daily News reporter
Two dogs that became ill during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and were dropped from a rested, back-of-the-pack team at Ruby on March 14 died several days later in Anchorage while under private veterinary care.
A third dog dropped at the same time with the same symptoms has since recovered, said the musher, Jim Lanier of Chugiak.
Preliminary necropsy results suggest the same sort of muscle and tissue deterioration that was a factor in three dog deaths last year and was thought to be caused by vitamin E deficiencies. But all three dogs had been taking vitamin E supplements, Lanier said.
"They had some evidence of liver and kidney and heart disease, but exactly what disease and what caused it is still unknown," said Lanier, a pathologist at Providence Hospital. "They usually don't get liver disease like this. There are some other possibilities."
More blood and tissue tests are under way, Lanier said. In a press release on Thursday, Iditarod race marshal Mark Nordman said he and chief veterinarian Stuart Nelson also will investigate and report back to the Iditarod board at its next meeting.
"We're trying to pursue all investigations that we can," said Lanier.
The Iditarod did not learn of the death - which took place outside of race supervision - until Nelson checked on the conditions of dogs dropped during the race, Nordman said. The dogs had been treated by Alaska Equine, a small animal hospital, Lanier said.
In what mimics the only other canine death reported this year, the two dogs - a 11/2-year-old white husky named Doc and a 7-year-old black husky named Bullet - had been considered fit and rested by vets who examined them along the trail.
"I was real comfortable with his dog care during the race," Nordman said Thursday.
An experienced musher running his third Iditarod, Lanier drove a team of young dogs on a schedule with seven to eight hours rest for every five or six hours of travel, he said.
Everything had been fine until the 112-mile drive between Cripple and Ruby. About three hours out of Ruby, the three dogs became ill so suddenly, "it was like something descended on them," Lanier said.
"These three are the only ones that showed any problem, and they all showed it together within an hour," he said. "It was amazing. It was as though they ate something."
With the three sick dogs in the sled, he reached Ruby about 10 p.m. on March 14 after spending 26 hours on the crossing. Vets took the animals inside the checkpoint and administered fluids and other treatment, Lanier said.
The three dogs began to recover, Lanier said, and he continued down the Yukon River with 12 dogs about 6 a.m. the following day.
"We had no concerns about him continuing to Nome," Nordman said.
Lanier learned of the deaths while on the trail. With difficulty, he said, he continued to Nome and finished 42nd a few days later.
"It was awful," he said. "The whole thing came down hard on me. It was really hard for me to continue. ... Nothing like this has ever happened to me before."