I wonder how much $$$ this 'journalist' was paid by the Yukon Tourism Department to produce this tripe (this article was widely printed in major newspapers in Canada today and on internet news sites). Yukon Tourism has spent into the millions of dollars over the years promoting the Yukon Quest and the Yukon sled dog tour industry. Most of these dogs, whether they are owned by sled dog tour operators or sled dog racers, live in deplorable conditions and are subject to being culled/killed when they are no longer useful. The Yukon Quest is responsible for killing dogs as a regular occurrence, and is responsible for seriously hurting many dogs each year.
Shooting dogs in the Yukon is a legal means of euthanization which keeps many dog mushers from being criminalized.
The Yukon is one of Canada's most backward jurisdictions with regard to animal welfare. The priority of the Yukon Tourism Department and the Yukon Government is to exploit dogs for money without providing any protection for them.
The Yukon Department of Tourism and Culture does not, as a rule, respond to criticism of their support for this animal exploiting industry. Whether she knows it or not, Tourism Minister Elaine Taylor has much sled dog blood on her hands.
Please please BOYCOTT the Yukon as a tourism destination until the tourism department and government get out of bed with dog abusers. Please email the Hon. Elaine Taylor at elaine.taylor@gov.yk.ca to let her know your intentions.
It would be interesting to know if anybody who complains to Ms. Taylor receives a response from her or her department.
By the way, doesn't the Yukon Quest and the Yukon sled dog industry get more than enough free advertising from the Cowardly Broadcasting Corporation (CBC Yukon, CBC North, CBC National)?
Frank Turner, quoted in the article, is a sled dog breeder and blatant self-promoter who to this day, chains up dogs to crappy dog houses. His running the Yukon Quest so many times is not the slightest bit worthy of adulation. I would describe anybody who repeatedly runs either the Yukon Quest or Iditarod as seriously flawed individuals who are sadistic in nature. These are the last people you would want to have a 'relationship' with dogs, but thankfully most people in Alaska and the Yukon are a pretty stupid and apathetic bunch over all.
'Spring Break in the Yukon'
By Mark Stachiew, Postmedia News March 5, 2011
They warned me that some folks who come up to the Yukon to try dogsledding get so hooked on the sport they sell everything, move up North, buy a team of dogs and enter the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest dogsled race.
It is easy to see why people fall in love with it -- having a team of dogs pull you through the snow past the drop-dead gorgeous scenery of the Yukon has the potential to be addictive.
Critics of dogsledding complain that the dogs are exploited, but these animals live to run and are happiest when they are pulling a sled. The yipping, barking and tail wagging that goes on as the dogs are hitched up to the sleds is pure excitement and it is contagious. You are as anxious to get going as they are.
Other dogs that are in the yard join in the racket and bark along with the dog teams as they are being tied up to their harnesses. Once the dogsleds set out, the dogs that are left behind realize that it is not their turn to run and begin a collective howl of pure disappointment.
Dogsledding received a bit of a black eye recently after the incident in British Columbia where 100 dogs were killed supposedly because of a slump in tourism, but dogsled operators in the Yukon are as appalled and angry as everyone else about what happened.
"There's no moral argument for putting down a healthy dog," said Frank Turner, owner of Muk Tuk Kennels near Whitehorse.
If anyone knows dogs and dogsledding, it's Turner. He's entered the Yukon Quest 24 of its 28 years and managed to win the race one of those times. It's no easy feat. The mushers have to race their 14-dog sleds from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, Alaska, cross mountain ranges and fight extreme weather and bitter cold. There are checkpoints along the way in places like Dawson City where they have enforced layovers in order to rest themselves and their dogs, but most of the 10 or so days it takes to complete the race is spent out on the trail.
Visitors to the Yukon can get a taste of what dogsledding is all about with Muk Tuk or any of the other dogsledding outfits in the territory. I got to drive a five-dog sled for an afternoon with Sky High Wilderness Ranch on Fish Lake which is a short drive out of Whitehorse.
Our guide gave us a quick introduction to how a dogsled works. Basically, you've got two brakes and you steer with voice commands. To turn left, you shout hee. To turn right, you shout gaw. The dogs do the rest.
While I spent only a few hours on my dogsled, Sky High Wilderness Ranch also takes its guests out for much longer trips. They offer three-, five-, eight-, 11- and 15-day packages which combine some time in their lodges, but also time out on the trail, camping in the wild in much the same way that the Yukon Quest racers do.
They say that they have a lot of repeat business from people who come back year after year to go mushing. It's probably safer to do that than to sell off your possessions and move up to the Yukon to become a full-time musher. You've been warned.
Mark Stachiew's visit to the Yukon was made possible with the assistance of Yukon Tourism.
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/travel/Spring+Break+Yukon/4389074/story.html#ixzz1FlmkKl9E
http://www.travelyukon.com/things-do/outdoor-activities/dog-sledding