Iditarod sled race punishes three mushers for sheltering their dogs in cabins during fierce storm

Three mushers in the Iditarod sled race have been punished for sheltering their dogs in cabins during a severe storm instead of leaving them outside.

The storm towards the end of the race led six mushers to scratch the same day.

Mushers Mille Porsild of Denmark, Michelle Phillips of Canada and Riley Dyche of Fairbanks, Alaska, were disciplined for taking their dogs inside during a storm that created white-out conditions, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Race marshal Mark Nordman made the call, saying that sheltering the dogs inside meant the teams received a competitive advantage.

“No doubt that Michelle and Mille did the right thing for their dogs,” he said. “But it also affected the competition for racers going forward.”

Ms Porsild went from 14th place to 17th place, while Ms Phillips was dropped from 17th to 18th place. Mr Dyche’s standing remained unchanged, but he was fined $1,000 after officials found that there were no other sled teams near him that could have been adversely affected.

The demotions led to $3,450 less for Ms Porsild and $1,000 less for Ms Phillips.

Brent Sass won the almost 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometre) race across the Alaskan wilderness on 15 March. Mr Sass was struck by the storm as he was getting close to the finish in Nome on Alaska’s western edge.

He said he fell off his sled, was unable to see anything, and considered hunkering down to allow the storm to pass.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), one of the race’s biggest critics, slammed the punishments of the three mushers.

“Nothing makes it clearer that this death race must end than the fact that the Iditarod slapped mushers with a fine as punishment for acting to prevent dogs’ deaths,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement on Friday.

She argued that charges of cruelty be filed against mushers who didn’t take their dogs inside cabins.

“Cruelty is baked into this deadly race, and it’s time for it to stop,” she added.

“Stopping and having the dogs in the shelter cabin gave Michelle and I no competition edge; on the contrary we both lost the edge we had — especially me and my team,” Ms Porsild told the Daily News.

Iditarod rules state that dogs can only be taken inside shelter cabins for race veterinarians’ medical examination or treatment, but the next passage in the rule book states that “there will be no cruel or inhumane treatment of dogs. Cruel or inhumane treatment involves any action or inaction, which causes preventable pain or suffering to a dog”.

Four mushers filed complaints against Ms Porsild and Phillips – three of them moved up in the rankings as a result of the disciplinary actions.

“There was no doubt to me that my dogs sitting unprotected in these conditions could lead to death or deaths of dog(s),” Ms Porsild told Mr Nordman in an email.

“With no natural wind breaks or materials available to shelter them I made what I felt was the best choice for my dog’s welfare in that extreme situation,” Ms Phillips said in a Facebook post.

Mr Dyche sheltered with his dogs in a different cabin. He was fined for not informing race officials he took his dogs inside.

He told the paper that he knew he was breaking race rules, but that he had no choice but to bring his dogs inside, adding that he knew he made the right call after hearing the winds pummel the cabin over the next 24 hours.

Ms Porsild wasn’t told by race officials that she had been demoted, she was alerted to the disciplinary measures by Ms Phillips several days afterwards. Ms Phillips said on Facebook that it had been her last Iditarod.

The Associated Press contributed to this report