Second dog passes away on Iditarod trail

At approximately 10 a.m. Monday morning, George, a four-year-old male from the race team of Hunter Keefe (bib #10), collapsed on the trail roughly 35 miles outside of Kaltag enroute to Unalakleet. Attempts to revive George were unsuccessful, according to a press release from the Iditarod Trail Committee.

A necropsy will be conducted by a board-certified pathologist to make every attempt to determine the cause of death.

This was the second dog to pass away during this current run of the Iditarod. Over the weekend, a dog from rookie Iditarod musher, Issac Teaford (bib #15), collapsed approximately 200 feet from the Nulato checkpoint. There has been no determined cause of death for Teaford’s dog, named Bog, and pursuant to Rule 42, which states that any dog death that occurs during the conduct of the race will result in immediate voluntary scratch by the musher, Teaford dropped from the race.

Meanwhile, veteran Iditarod musher Deke Naaktgeboren (bib #34), of Fairbanks, Alaska, scratched March 10 at the Nulato checkpoint in the best interest of his team. He had 10 dogs in harness when he arrived in Nulato, all in good health.