On November 8, 2008, a Whitehorse-area resident (and animal samaritan) found the body of a dead husky-type dog beside the Alaska Highway in the Golden Horn area outside of Whitehorse.

The man has lived in the area for many years and occasionally picks up and buries dead domestic and wild animals on his rural acreage out of respect for their lives, instead of leaving them beside the highway to rot or be scavenged upon.

The dog was described as a black and white female of undetermined age and was wearing a Yukon Quest race tag with the number 24 stamped on it. The tag does not appear to be a souvenir tag, but one that would be worn by dogs who run in the Yukon Quest. Shortly after finding the dog, the man placed ads on the internet believing that if in fact this was a Yukon Quest dog, she would be missed by her owner.

The man also contacted the Humane Society Yukon, local media, and the Yukon Quest office in Whitehorse seeking assistance in finding the owner of the dog. None of the authorities were of any help.

The Yukon Quest office reportedly initially told the man they would "get back to him" but, never having to be accountable to the public despite the massive amounts of government money the Quest receives, nobody at the Quest fulfilled the commitment.

It was not until late February of 2009 that this matter was brought to the attention of Yukon-based sled dog advocates, who in turn notified a Whitehorse television reporter and a Whitehorse newspaper, both of whom do not (officially or unofficially) sponsor the Yukon Quest. The television reporter did some initial
investigation and interviewed the man who found the dog. Film footage was also taken of a microchip scan which was performed at the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter in Whitehorse. No signal was received, it is not known whether this indicated that the dog did not in fact have a microchip or if the frozen state of the
body affected the transmission of such. The television reporter informed me that the number 24 represented the number of a Quest musher's racing bib, and was not a unique dog tag number.

The television reporter promised to continue the investigation at a later date (apparently not much support by the news producer about the timeliness of the story as the dog mushing season was on the wane).

Unfortunately, the journalist ceased employment with the media concern in 2009 and that is where the story died.

The Whitehorse newspaper right from the start was reluctant to pick up the story, a final plea was made in late 2009 for the paper to take an interest. The man who found the dog gave permission to the newspaper to contact him, which was never done.

It is important to reiterate that there is no proof that this dog was in fact a veteran race dog who had in her lifetime, raced in the Yukon Quest. It is possible that a tag from another dog had been attached to her collar for whatever reason. However, this story would have never come to public attention had the Yukon
Quest, in a timely manner, undertaken the responsibility of offering assistance to help determine whether or not this dog was a previous Quest racing dog, instead of ignoring it and hoping it would go away.

One can certainly not blame the (total of two) Yukon media concerns who have a record of having
reported relatively responsibly about the Yukon Quest race and the Quest 'organization' itself, for their reluctance in taking on this story. I can well imagine they have not received much in the way of appreciation for critical reporting, and may well have been subjected to nasty phone calls and emails (as is customary from the rabid dog mushing lobby).

It would be much appreciated if readers of this message who have information to offer, reply to the SledDogWatchdog contact email address (any submissions will be treated confidentially), or that sympathetic readers contact Yukon Minister of Tourism and Culture, Elaine Taylor, asking her to order the Yukon Quest, for which her department is a major race sponsor, to cooperate in determining the identity of this unfortunate soul. It should be noted that Ms. Taylor and her department have to this point been steadfast in not replying publicly or privately to sled dog advocates.

The dog was given a respectful burial by the finder of the dog and myself on April 29th, 2009.

Terry Cumming
Web administrator