For 104 years, sled dogs have been vital to Denali National Park – not as bygone relics, but as active working teams that still protect the park better than machines can. That program is now struggling after the U.S. Interior Department blocked more than 130 National Park Service partnership agreements worth about $25 million for the upcoming fiscal year.
One of those rejected agreements would have paid for three people to provide daily care for the park’s roughly 30 working sled dogs. While the cuts don’t officially end the sled dog program, they will require the park to find a new funding source to maintain its dog teams.
The radical animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), is now attempting to persuade Denali Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell to abandon the century-old sled dog tradition in favor of human-pulled sleds to transport essential supplies across the vast wilderness park during extreme winter conditions.
Given its stated belief that all animals are “non-human persons,” it views animals as being on equal footing with humans and even opposes those who own goldfish or laying hens.
In a Sept. 23 letter by PETA’s head of the “Cruelty Investigations Department,” the animal rights group offered to give the park free cross-country skis, human-pulled sleds and an “eco-friendly electric snowmachine,” provided Merrell agrees to retire all of the sled dogs to “loving homes.”
A statement by PETA claims that the park shouldn’t force dogs to serve human purposes.
The park’s dog sled tradition began in 1922, when the first superintendent, Harry Karstens, purchased seven dogs to patrol newly drawn boundaries.
The park has kept working dog teams ever since. They are the only sled dogs in the United States that help safeguard a national park, its wildlife, scenery, and wilderness character.
According to the park website, this popular tradition relies on rich Alaska history and tradition, dating back to when Native families extensively used sled dogs for trapping, trading, and travel between villages.
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“The dogs, and the kennels where they live, represent important pieces of the American story … it has been this way since the birth of the park,” the website notes.
It adds that sled dogs are more advantageous than snowmachines for many reasons.
“Reliable sled dogs have hearts and brains that machines such as snowmobiles and airplanes do not,” the park explains. “Every kennel’s ranger has a story of wise lead dogs helping them navigate to a patrol cabin in a whiteout or to avoid dangerous ice obscured under snow. The dogs know this landscape well, and they can provide invaluable wisdom that machines cannot.” While a team of sled dogs may be slower than an airplane or a snowmobile, they are arguably more dependable to operate in the extreme conditions of a sub-arctic winter, the park maintains.
This includes traveling in 40-below-zero temperatures when it is nearly impossible to start a motor.
“[A] dog team simply needs a good breakfast, and they are ready and willing to run,” the park website explains.
Dogs are also better at crossing slushy snow and more reliable than a snowmachine that could break down in the backcountry.
“If a machine breaks down in the middle of remote wilderness like Denali, you had better hope you are carrying the right spare parts and tools to fix it!” the park emphasizes. “However, if a sled dog gets sick or injured on the trail, you can always rely on the rest of the team to pull the sled while the injured dog can run loose or ride in the sled until they have recovered.”
The sled dog teams aid winter recreationalists and help monitor the park in a low-impact style that preserves the wilderness character of Denali.
With over 2 million acres of designated wilderness in the park, it’s unclear how PETA’s proposal to use human-powered sleds or electric snowmachines could provide essential services.
PETA, however, has a history of pushing extreme ideology on Alaska, including ongoing campaigns to abolish the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
Given its stated belief that all animals are “non-human persons,” it views animals as being on equal footing with humans and even opposes those who own goldfish or laying hens.
PETA’s motto claims that “animals are not ours to use” and points out that every animal is “someone.” For anyone who disagrees with PETA’s anthropomorphic view of animals, the group offers free “Empathy Kits” to provide a “lesson in kindness.”
