| SDC Talk Archives | |
| January 11, 2000 - June 21,
2000 June 21, 2000 - August 21, 2000 August 22, 2000 - September 30, 2000 |
October 1 - October 31, 2000 November 1-December 6, 2000 Current Messages |
SDC Talk! Archived Messsages
dated August 22, 2000 - September 30, 2000
[ Home | Contents | Search | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: debbie H.
Date: 9/26/00
Time: 1:55:37 PM
Remote Name: 12.21.208.104
This has been an emotional issue for us. We are new to Alaska and to mushing. We have been struggling with our yard to keep them fed and to find some form of housing for each dog. We have been given dogs we have to find homes for and we continue to feed them as we wait for them to be placed. We are not rich and will not get a PFD check this year either. We have been very blessed to have been given some really awesome dogs and are just now having to buy our first dog. We have been blessed with some great friends that have given dog food and fish when it was hard for us to get it. We have been blessed with an awesome Mentor to teach me the ropes. It tugged at my heart to read the article and to see someone that would even consider killing all these dogs when there are mushers out here like me that would gladly take them into our teams. I then found out that this goes on every year. I would understand this if it were just once but from what I understand this has been going on for some time.. Now ,, if I put up here that I am desperate for food and that I am gonna kill all my dogs if I don't get any food, will anyone come running to help me out?? no.. I understand the concern for feeding a team of dogs. I have a team of dogs that i worry about everyday. But,, I don't take on more dogs than I can take care of and I don't over breed either. I will maintain my lot at 30-35 dogs for my Iditarod team. My fiance wants to have sprint dogs and he will maintain a team of sprint dogs. There is no way I will go over my limit on what I can take care of. We are running into the financial realities of owning these dogs as we approach winter with homemade dog houses that have no floors. We are gonna be hustling to get floors in them before the first snowfall. We are concerned about having the money to get their shots up to date and having a place for the new puppies to grow up in. We are poor and we use what we have on the property. We don't have a show case dog yard and would get laughed out of town by the "big" mushers if they saw our dog yard. But, our dogs are happy and are fed and are loved. We would love to have some of those dogs that are being "threatened". I will not go buy them though cause they are talking about killing them. If they can threaten the lives of these dogs in an effort to gain food for them, then maybe they should give them away to folks who really need them and will take care of them. I am having a very hard time dealing with this. I understand the fish problem. I understand the lack of money. But, I don't understand good, well known breeders begging for handouts when the going gets tough. My good friend Judy Merritt in Moose Pass was begging for folks to come and get the over abundance of fish her sponsor gave her. We were blessed to fill our freezer with this really good fish. Many mushers around my area were given the same offer and did not want to make the drive to get the fish. I could not afford the several trips in my little Geo Tracker to fill it up as full as we could but I knew the fish would be very helpful in the winter feeding. I make the sacrifices I have to make to keep my team fed and happy. I will never play them against the emotions of people to get them taken care of. I would gladly borrow a truck and go and get some of these dogs if that would solve the problem. Instead, I get to watch them say they would gladly sell me these dogs or they will put them down. What is the issue here? I don't even have a dog truck yet but am willing to find the money to go to Eagle and to borrow a truck just to get the dogs. I don't even get to go to the Symposium this year and yet would find a way to get these dogs. I need atleast 6 more dogs for my team.. mostly i need leaders. But, I am not going to let the emotional pleas for food based on a threat of killing the dogs get me to run right out there and buy them a lot of dog food either. Someone talked about the PFD checks. well they will get those checks but I am sure that is the money they live on for the year. These are natives.. how did they take care of their teams in hard times many many years ago?? This is not the first time that the fish have not been there. ok.. off of my soap box.. this has been a hard thing to deal with for me.