12/21/24
February 20, 2007
Dog's Best Friend.: In the middle of the Yukon Quest dogsled race, musher Aaron Burmeister stopped his sled to give mouth-to-snout resuscitation to a member of his sled team that had collapsed. The race is, for all intents, lost to Bermeister and his team, but sometimes, winning isn't everything.
posted by The_Black_Hand to extreme at 04:17 PM - 11 comments
Nice story. The guy could have just said, "Hey, shit happened," and left the dog, and no one would have known otherwise. Thanks for posting, TBH.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 04:50 PM on February 20, 2007
My kinda guy. Learn from this trip and live to fight another day...along with your dog.
posted by ctal1999 at 05:55 PM on February 20, 2007
Aaron Burmeister, ya did good! I hope the selflessness you've shown in this race will be rewarded in another. Yes, I love dogs.
posted by steelergirl at 06:34 PM on February 20, 2007
I am glad that this man had the compassion to save his dog and I commend him for that. That being said, these dog races should be banned, just as cockfighting, dog fights, and the like. The original dog sled races were relays and were two to three day 25 mile races. Now they are supermarathons where dogs die frequently. According to the stats over 130 dogs have died at the I-Killed-A-Dog sled races since 1973 (not including dogs that died afterwards). That only includes deaths since they started keeping track. Over 80% of the dogs experience some sort of long term health problems. Over 50% of them can not finish races due to health problems that were non-existent before the race began. It sickens me that these races are considered "sport" and sickens me even more that the law allows them to happen.
posted by urall cloolis at 07:14 PM on February 20, 2007
to "urall cloolis" I totally agree with you............ my dogs lay around all day and dig holes in my backyard
posted by jaclp at 09:06 PM on February 20, 2007
I also agree with urall cloolis 100%. This is not the same as a human deciding to participate in a dangerous sport. These dogs are forced into it and the treatment they receive in return is horrifying in many cases. www.helpsleddogs.org has some great information on the Iditarod and the Mush with P.R.I.D.E organization
posted by dj sko at 09:57 PM on February 20, 2007
Where was Mr. Burmeister when Barbaro needed him the most in those last days?? If he can save a dog then why not a horse as well?
posted by Folkways at 09:58 PM on February 20, 2007
Great story and post, TBH. Handy to learn that should I need to give my dog CPR, it's better to do it through the nose versus the mouth. I've been researching a dog-rescue/emergency training course lately. This may push me through. That said, I'm completely discouraged by urall's claim and dj sko's link. There's no reason at all that dogs should be forced into a situation that puts their lives at risk like this for sporting or entertainment purposes.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:23 PM on February 20, 2007
The caption of that picture in dj sko's link seriously makes me sick. Then you read some of the quotes on the site, like these clowns having seats and heaters on their sleds. Seriously, where's the sport in that?
posted by SummersEve at 05:17 AM on February 21, 2007
Nice story. The guy could have just said, "Hey, shit happened," and left the dog, and no one would have known otherwise I bet that's what Ron Artest's dog watcher thought too but we all know what happened there.
posted by BornIcon at 07:00 AM on February 21, 2007
I found this story last week, but my stupid life prevented me from posting it then. Sorry for the delay.