Gary Paulson gives a look into the rigorous challenge of the Iditarod through his memoir Winterdance. He emphasizes the awful conditions along with the importance of the human animal bond. He challenges the traditional way of thinking about dogs’ place in the world asserting that through extensive contact with the dogs, one would start thinking as if they were a dog. Paulson illustrates the toughness of the Iditarod as well as the vile treatment of dogs by some people in response to these conditions; research indicates that the instances of animal cruelty have plummeted in sled-dog races, resulting in a greater connection between man and dog. Throughout the preparation and continuing through the race, the extreme physical demand of the Iditarod
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Paulson faced this cruelty in someone that he didn’t expect, the musher who had just brought donuts for the other drivers, showing that anyone is capable of this evil behavior. When he saw this he thought, “I saw hate, self-hate, hate and rage and such savagery that I drew back and suddenly understood Nazis and rabies and rape and pillage and My Lai and the death camps and all the horrors that men have done to other men and to themselves in hate, pure hate, and I thought I should kill him” (216). Even the normally calm Paulson feels such rage at the brutality of such cruelty against someone who is unable to defend themselves. In her article, “Animals in Sports,” published in Information Plus Reference Series Fall 2005, Sandra Alters informed the readers that, “In 1991 an Anchorage musher was charged with animal cruelty after twelve dead puppies and two living but badly injured puppies were found in a crate in his truck. The man admitted to shooting and bludgeoning the puppies, which were left over from his sled dog breeding stock” (par. 14). Alters looks at some of the depraved behavior by some of the mushers. While these occurrences are rare, the volume was published in 2006, there is no place for this in sled-dog racing and the Iditarod Trail Committee, the governing body of the race, is taking steps to reduce this abhorrent behavior. Paulson noticed that, “Dogs will sometimes die before they lose the love, will love while they’re being destroyed,” showing that the tough conditions create an inseparable bond and that he has no idea why anyone would intentionally hurt a member of their team
Paulson faced this cruelty in someone that he didn’t expect, the musher who had just brought donuts for the other drivers, showing that anyone is capable of this evil behavior. When he saw this he thought, “I saw hate, self-hate, hate and rage and such savagery that I drew back and suddenly understood Nazis and rabies and rape and pillage and My Lai and the death camps and all the horrors that men have done to other men and to themselves in hate, pure hate, and I thought I should kill him” (216). Even the normally calm Paulson feels such rage at the brutality of such cruelty against someone who is unable to defend themselves. In her article, “Animals in Sports,” published in Information Plus Reference Series Fall 2005, Sandra Alters informed the readers that, “In 1991 an Anchorage musher was charged with animal cruelty after twelve dead puppies and two living but badly injured puppies were found in a crate in his truck. The man admitted to shooting and bludgeoning the puppies, which were left over from his sled dog breeding stock” (par. 14). Alters looks at some of the depraved behavior by some of the mushers. While these occurrences are rare, the volume was published in 2006, there is no place for this in sled-dog racing and the Iditarod Trail Committee, the governing body of the race, is taking steps to reduce this abhorrent behavior. Paulson noticed that, “Dogs will sometimes die before they lose the love, will love while they’re being destroyed,” showing that the tough conditions create an inseparable bond and that he has no idea why anyone would intentionally hurt a member of their team