Snowmachine and sled team collide, killing 3 dogs, Alaska cops say. ‘Sweet’ and ‘gentle’
Three “sweet” and “gentle” sled dogs were killed when they collided with a snowmachine in Alaska, according to troopers and the musher.
The collision happened at about 5:38 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, near Cantwell on the Denali Highway, Alaska State Troopers said in a news release.
Mike Parker was mushing the animals to a truck following a race, he said in a Facebook post.
Parker was with Jim Lanier, who is the owner of the animals and has completed 16 Iditarods.
When the two got within a few miles of the truck, a snowmachine struck the animals “head-on,” Parker said in the post.
The two lead dogs and the swing dogs were hit, he wrote. Swing dogs are directly behind the lead dogs.
Three of the animals died, and another was injured, troopers said. Parker wasn’t injured.
“This was an unspeakable tragedy,” he wrote.
John Lennon, a 4-year-old male dog, died when the snowmachine hit him. Buttercup, a 7-year-old female dog, died in Parker’s arms on the trail, he said. Another female dog, 3-year-old, Solo, died in the truck in his arms.
Parker said 7-year-old KitKat survived, but she is going into surgery with a fractured femur and other injuries.
“They were all fantastic leaders that have competed in Iditarod, won the Kobuk 440, and shined in countless other races,” Parker said in the Facebook post.
“Jim and I did all we could to save the dogs and are optimistic that KitKat will recover and live a long life with us,” he said.
The Iditarod is a long-distance dog sled race that happens every year in March after beginning in 1973. The almost 1,000-mile journey begins in Anchorage and ends in Nome, according to Travel Alaska.
Cantwell is about 210 miles north of Anchorage.
This story was originally published December 13, 2023 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Snowmachine and sled team collide, killing 3 dogs, Alaska cops say. ‘Sweet’ and ‘gentle’."
