Mushing has a PR problem, but who will be its voice?

The carburetor of my chain saw was on the workbench in 16 pieces when the call came in. I rarely answer my phone, but with all of the recent dog controversies, I picked up. It was well that I did.

The Iditarod Trail Committee had released the name of the prohibited drug found in several dogs at the conclusion of the 2017 race. The musher with the affected dogs had also offered a statement. Neither statement shed much light on this troubling case.

Why should we be bothered by this? Because sled dog racing is the Alaska state sport. Sled dog events such as the Open North American, Fur Rendezvous and especially the Iditarod bring many dollars to our local economies. Sled dog tour companies around the state also bring in substantial revenue and provide employment.

There have been a number of negatives about sled dogs in the national media recently. There is a low-budget film making the rounds that reveals less-than-stellar activities in a kennel prepping for the Iditarod. The ITC handling of dropped dogs in 2016 and 2017 also generated poor publicity. Combine this with some high-profile abuse events in the touring industry, and sled dogs have a media crisis.

Individual kennels are being aggressively targeted by groups that are not only anti-mushing but are opposed to working dogs in any venue. I shake my head in wonder, but there are a number of folks out there who believe Fifi is happiest spending her day in a kennel and getting a 15-minute walk when Mom comes home from work.

Our dirty little Yorkie that chases squirrels, retrieves grouse and comes in covered with mud from digging holes must be one of the mistreated. A sled dog on a tether that can reach, interact and play with its buddies around him, can dig to China and gets to spend a couple hours a day on the training trail must be also woefully abused.

The problem seems to be that it is easy to find a venue to poke, prod and find fault. Whether your story is fact or fiction makes no matter. However, the sled dog industry has no unified voice with which to answer the critics. What is our venue? The musher who administered tramadol to his dogs at the end of the 2017 Iditarod has no podium on which to speak. You cannot blame him or her for not going public.

[Unnamed Iditarod musher denies giving dogs a prohibited drug]

At least three dogs tested positive for tramadol after the 2017 race, according to the statement from the musher. Tramadol is a prohibited drug for sled dogs while they are racing. Illegal. Use of the drug while racing should be penalized.

However, tramadol is a drug routinely prescribed by vets for minor to moderate pain. In canines, it also acts as a sedative. The involved musher states he or she did not administer the drug.

The odds someone sabotaged the team are so minuscule as to be laughable. However, we can only guess how this drug got into the dogs' systems. Maybe a handler wanting to help out an animal that had just completed an ultra-marathon? A similar situation might occur after a person finishes a half-marathon. They might take a Tylenol in anticipation of soreness to come. Tramadol is not a performance enhancer, especially after the completion of an event.

The statement by the accused driver devotes a couple of paragraphs pointing out that the drug samples were not taken according to protocol. True enough, but really a non-issue. The facts speak to at least three dogs in the same team testing positive.

The ITC had no effective penalty phase in place to enforce its own drug rules — and thus is caught with its pants down. The new fix now in the Iditarod rulebook may be adequate. Consider that the 1,000-mile race is more than 40 years old and has never had to deal with a drug issue until this year.

Cycling, baseball and the Olympics continue relatively unaffected with annual performance-enhancing drug abuses among competitors. Give an animal tramadol to ease potential strain after the finish of a working-dog event and the damn sky falls in. Sled dog sports need an organization or an individual with visibility to stand up and present the positive side of keeping and utilizing the working dogs of our world.

We continue to hide our heads and hope to be left alone. Let's not be naive. As the owners of working dogs, we must stand up and say it's not just OK but desirable to let a dog be our partner in the hunt, on the trail and at the field trial.

Yes, there are imperfections in the way some keep and deal with their charges. We need to be aware of that and correct it.

For the most part, those who have 20 or more dogs in their yard understand canines far better than dog behaviorists. Stand up and be heard today, or the last of the huskies will be found shedding on a rug in Palm Springs — in your lifetime.

John Schandelmeier is a lifelong Alaskan who lives with his family near Paxson. He is a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and two-time winner of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. He has entered one Iditarod and his wife, Zoya DeNure, has participated in seven.