Anchorage Daily News

PALMER -- The addition of 25 rescued sled dogs to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Animal Care kennel has overwhelmed the already crowded facility.

Animal control officers took the dogs Monday and Tuesday from lots run by musher Doug Bartko. Thursday afternoon, Nick Uphus at the shelter said all the dogs made it through Wednesday night.

"There were a couple of dogs we were worried about, but we put them on warm blankets and gave them fluids," and they survived, the shelter assistant said.

Thursday afternoon, Bartko denied reports by the borough that some of the dogs were so thin and emaciated they had to be given fluids intravenously until they could stomach solid food.

"I had one who wouldn't eat commercial (dog food) and I just mixed it with a little water and he finished it up fine," Bartko said.

Animal control officers cited Bartko for five counts of interference with an investigation and 10 counts of failure to provide humane animal care, according to the borough public information office. He has also been served notice that his kennel license will be revoked and of the borough's intent to keep the seized animals.

Bartko, who lives on Lazy Mountain, east of Palmer, is a onetime Iditarod musher. He said he followed his father, Hal Bartko, up the trail in the mid-1980s. They were disqualified, he said, because they were too far behind the pack.

"We ignored them and kept on going," Doug Bartko said Thursday.

The pair made it to Nome, but Bartko said it took them about a month.

"We had our own little banquet."

People who may be interested in adopting his dogs won't be able to until the case against Bartko is resolved, which could take months, Uphus said.

In the meantime, the shelter has reduced its adoption fees for other pets in an attempt to free up room for the husky-mixes.

Uphus said the $20 adoption fee for dogs and $15 for cats will be waived. The animals may still have fees attached to them for licensing, microchips, spaying or neutering, vaccinations and other items.

He said the typical dog would cost $99.50 with the discount, but it could be less if other fees don't apply. Cats would be $89.50 under the same conditions.

Anyone interested in adopting an animal from the Mat-Su shelter can contact the shelter at 1-907-746-5500 or look at the adoptable pets on its Web page at www.petharbor.com.

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