Re: "Chief vet says dog death was not negligence," ADN, Sunday, March 17.
I beg to differ. Were there no volunteers responsible for caring for the dropped dogs? Was there no Iditarod Trail Committee (ITC) member responsible for overseeing the volunteers? Were "they" all inside out of the brutal weather? The dog wasn't.
Paige Drobny, concerned for Dorado's welfare, made the right decision to drop the dog, trusting his care to ITC, but there was no care. Dorado is dead, suffocated in a snow bank. How is that not negligence? If parents fail to care for a child and the child dies, are they not charged with negligent homicide? Would we as John Q. Public not demand they be held responsible for the child's death?
The same scenario should apply to this death. But, wait, it's just a dog right? Remember that the next time you feed and water your animals.
— Susan Fegert
Willow
Anchorage Daily News