PLEASE PERSONALIZE SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear

Please stop supporting the barbaric Iditarod with all the evils associated
with it.

Mushers treat their dogs abominably. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run
1,150 miles, which is the approximate distance between Dallas and Cleveland
over a grueling terrain in 8 to 15 days. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno
called the Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox
sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports
columnist George Diaz said the race is "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today
business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations
minefield."

Please visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website
http://www.helpsleddogs.org and be sure to read the quotes on
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/remarks.htm
All the material on the site is true and verifiable.

At least 122 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of
dog deaths available for the race's early years. Here's a short list of what
happens to the dogs during the race: death, paralysis, penile frostbite,
bleeding ulcers, broken bones, pneumonia, ruptured discs, hypothermia, broken
teeth, viral diseases, torn footpads and lung damage.

On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not even make it
across
the finish line. Of those that finish, 81 percent have lung damage. No one
knows how many dogs die in training or after the race. A report published in the
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that 48.5 percent of the dogs
who participate in the Iditarod have ulceration, tissue erosion, gastric
hemorrhage, or a combination of these conditions.

Tom Classen, retired Air Force colonel and Alaskan resident for over 40
years, tells us that the dogs are beaten into submission:

"They've had the hell beaten out of them." "You don't just whisper into their
ears, 'OK, stand there until I tell you to run like the devil.' They
understand one thing: a beating. These dogs are beaten into submission the same way
elephants are trained for a circus. The mushers will deny it. And you know what?
They are all lying." -USA Today, March 3, 2000 in Jon Saraceno's column

Mushers believe in "culling" or killing unwanted dogs, including puppies.
Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for
any reason, including those who have outlived their usefulness are killed with
a shot to the head, dragged or clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with
baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote
Alaskan Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper (March,
2000).

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel
Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to
maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or
dragging them to their death."

Please end your organization's association with this horrific race.

Sincerely,