All language subtitles for Sled.Dogs.2016.1080p.WEB-DL.DD.5.1.H.264-EYEZ

It Is one of the biggest deals
in iditarod. Here's the

85 mushers and their teams are
entered into this years

Last Great Race.

-There's more people that have
climbed Mount Everest than,

than have finished the
Iditarod.

-The Iditarod is, the
appeal is it's the last
great race on earth and it,

and there's so many
wonderful aspects to it.

-The romance of running a 1,000
miles with a dog team,

sleeping out under the
stars with your dogs,

it's part of the
history of Alaska.

Well, it's so exciting
for one thing.

Everybody watches it on TV and
thinks it's the greatest thing
in the world,

I wished I
could do that.

And they do it for the fame,
they do it for the money.

ANNOUNCER:
The world is watching Iditarod
44 on Iditarod.com.

We welcome you all
to the 49th state.

It's the combination
of people,

and of course
the dogs,

and then the beauty of
the land.

There aren't many
places left in the
world

where you can see the
terrain and the
geography,

the typography that
Alaska presents,

and that's a strong
appeal as well.

So, many reasons,
but of course the,

the dogs are the
focus of it all.

Everybody
likes dogs.

-Those dogs that win
the Iditarod are the
dogs that will

win the Super Bowl
if they were
people.

These are some exceptional
animals, just unreal animals.

It's something they're
born, bred, and
desired to do,

and it's a privilege
for me to be on the
back to watch

them do the things that
they're naturally good at.

-I learned about sled dogs
when I was in elementary
school,

and I thought it
was amazing.

But, you know, I
never thought,
like, oh,

"I could actually
do that."

I just have always
enjoyed outdoor
endeavours and I

couldn't think of anything more
ultimate as an outdoor endeavour
than the Iditarod.

I just wanna see if I can
do it, personally.

[Dog pack barking]

-Being an outdoorsman,
I've always wanted to
come to Alaska.

I just really enjoy
the lifestyle.

I love running dogs, I love
taking care of dogs.

I like the training
aspect of dogs.

Um, I love seeing those
young dogs transition
through the season.

-You like the snow,
it's your first snow.

Future
champions.

-Most mushers, that's one
of the biggest things,

the bond between
you and your dogs.

PATRICK:
Good boys.

I love being with those
dogs out on the trail.

-Get up there,
let's go!

Go!

I want my team
to be like a machine,

a well-oiled machine,
very well trained.

I wanna give these guys
exactly what they need

and I want them to be
happy and successful.

This morning,
I started around four.

Feed my dogs,
scoop my dogs,

and then we can start
bootying and harnessing them,
and...

The truck is a
great training tool

to train a lot
of dogs at once.

-Get ready.

All righty, everybody
hop in their vehicles.

Titan,
hey!

Yeah, right now they're
just pulling the truck

at the speed
we need to go.

-They are superb
athletes.

They're better than
any other athlete
in the world

in their ability to
do, um, endurance
performance.

The ability to sustain
1,000-mile run is...

uh, of course they have to have
the conditioning to do that.

Today's run is gonna be
like a day on the Iditarod
trail.

So I'm gonna do a 40 mile
run, a 6 hour break,

and then another 40
mile run.

It's just great simulation
training is what we're doing.

-You think of Alaska,
you think of dog teams.

When I first got up
here, I used to think,

"How in the world are
they controlling
those dogs?"

and I just really wanted
to find out about it.

Handlers do everything.
I mean, everything.

That includes driving the
musher's dogs and everything,

the good
dogs.

You do everything.

And I have driven some of
the best in the world.

But it's so exciting,
it is really exciting.

It's the most fun
thing I ever did.

But it's...

there's a
price for it.

GENE:
I love my dogs
very, very much but
you need to be boss.

Now, a dog is not
the boss, you are
the boss.

Lydia!

-Today we took
the young pups.

They're about six months old,
we took them out of their pens,

and we moved them
down to the puppy yard.

-This goes on
your neck.

And I'll get down
on the floor.

-When they're six months
old I think they're old
enough to go out.

Sometimes, people put them
out at three months
because

that's when they
start to figure
out

who's gonna be
the boss of the
pack,

but their necks are so
tiny it's hard to get a
collar small enough

and I always feel that the
chains are just too heavy.

So I wait 'til
their six months

and then they're
ready to go.

-Okay. Come on, baby.
Come on, baby.

-And, um,
I think they are.

-That collar wasn't
tight enough.

Come on, come out here,
where I can reach you better.

[Dog yelps]

Come out here, where
I can reach you better.

Come
on!

Come on, baby,
there we go.

There,
okay?

We'll do
this again.

Look at that, you've
got such a tiny neck.

[Dog yelps]

There we go.

[Yelping continues]

Okay.

Come on,
come on, baby.

Come on,
baby.

Come on, baby.

Come on, you can
do this, come on.

-The first one was Lydia
and she is very shy.

She just has a shy
personality so I had to
really encourage her

because she was totally
afraid, scared stiff.

She didn't wanna go
down to the yard.

Playmates...
come on.

Come on, Lydia.
That's a girl.

Good girl,
come on,
Lydia.

Come on,
Lydia.

-Lydia wasn't with
another dog in her pen

because I took her
brother out.

And so part of it is they're
used to being together.

It's just like
when people

take six-week old puppies
away from their friends

and sell
them off.

I wait 'til they're
six-months.

It's the same
type of thing-

"I want my sister,
I want my brother."

Come on,
Lydia.

-There is a bit of
distress there,

but I keep an eye
on them

to make sure it doesn't
get really bad.

If they start slobbering
or something like that,

then you know that
they're really upset.

-Pretty soon,
you'll be running.

Come on.

-They're just letting
the world know that
they're not happy.

And this is Kia,
this is Kia.

[Dogs yelling]

This is
Kia.

[Growling]

Ah-ah-ah,
Kia!

[Dogs yellping]

Kia!

-When they go down there
they're very excited.

Jeepers
creepers.

See?!

We're
good.

To be a dog trainer
who runs in the woods

with his dogs
all day long,

it's the
perfect job.

-Being a musher,
um,

it's just one of
the greatest joys
I've ever had.

-The dogs at Krabloonik
are very near and dear
to our community,

and to many of our guests who
come from all over the world.

And the experience
as Krabloonik
begins to

exemplify what
this town
stands for.

-The dog sledding companies
have done a very good job,

especially in our local case,
of convincing the tourists,

the travelling public,
that these dogs live
great lives,

that they love what they do,
they love pulling the sleds,

and that it's a great
athletic endeavour for them,

and that these
dogs aren't like
regular dogs.

They're super
athletes,

and they have to be
treated differently
from regular dogs.

And they have no idea
what is going in these
outdoor warehouses

where they are
keeping these dogs.

-The end of the season was
when things started to
become more real to me.

You know how hot it is
here in the summer?

It's
brutal.

It looks like a
concentration camp
when you come

and visit it in
the summer
times.

And it's just bleak.

There's gravel everywhere,
dogs are under their kennels

where there's a
little bit of shade,

where they can
stay cool.

Their necks get worn down
so you can see their raw-

their raw skin through
their fur, and their noses
get worn raw.

They start eating their houses
'cause they get so bored,

they eat their water
cans they get so bored.

Yeah, it gets
pretty brutal.

My first year, we had 23
dogs that we put on what
we called "death row."

The old dogs that
were gonna be

euthanised after
the mushers left.

All the dogs that
couldn't run, they used
to be shot.

-Dan's way of discipline, I
just... I don't agree with.

His way of care,
I don't agree with.

Once, I pulled
into the kennel,

and my lead dog
attacked a puppy in
front of the guests.

Well, once the guests
left the yard, Dan
came over,

he picked up the
puppy,

and he set it in front
of the dog that
attacked it,

and it attacked
it again.

And he started
hitting it with a
chain,

and he hit it with a
chain until it
dropped the puppy.

Violent determination by
the dog to be beaten so
brutally,

twice,
with a chain.

And the third time,
it still attacked
the puppy.

The dog obviously
doesn't understand this
form of discipline.

It was
terrible.

It was nothing short
of blood lust.

It was murder.

I approached
the police.

There was just
zero response.

I called
PACFA.

The four complaints
that I wrote,

I still have not received
any response.

All the dogs that have been
abused here at Krabloonik,

like, PACFA hasn't
stepped in any of that.

So, to even think that they're
even on board to do anything

meaningful is just pretty
laughing matter to me.

-My name
is Patrick.

My quest is to seek
the Holy Grail.

It's pretty
interesting.

It's not something I'm
used to, signing
autographs.

ATTENDEE:
How many times
have you run this?

PATRICK:
It's my rookie
season.

ATTENDEE:
All right!

-Mostly, what I enjoy is
talking with people
about my passion.

They're all 2-year
olds,

so we're just going
out to just chill.

I'm gonna probably
be like this most of
the time.

ATTENDEE:
Get your tan on?

PATRICK:
Yeah, just
enjoying it.

I definitely have
some butterflies.

I know once my dogs start
getting hooked up

and we're heading over to the
actual starting line,

uh, my belly will
definitely be light.

The men and women
who've won this
thing are some of

the toughest
people on the
planet.

As a rookie you
don't understand,

you don't know all the
things about the trail that
everybody talks about.

They talk about the
steps, you know,

they're dangerous, they're
terrible, the ice holes.

They talk about it all but
until you get there and do
it for yourself,

you have no idea
what it's gonna be
like.

ANNOUNCER 1:
Five, four, three,
two, one, go!

ANNOUNCER 2:
There goes bib number 53,
Patrick Beall from Oklahoma.

This is his Iditarod
rookie year.

PATRICK:
Not to say Iditarod is
going to be easy.

It's gonna be a major,
major challenge,

but the dogs that I have,
they're amazing.

They make me look ten times
better than I am.

We're going a 1000 plus
miles across Alaska.

We're gonna go across mountains,
we're gonna go down mountains,

we're gonna pop into valleys
and across rivers.

We're gonna get on the coast
and go across sea ice.

All the way up to Nome.

It's a beautiful place to visit,
it's a beautiful place to be,

but it's hard to believe
the horrible things that
have happened here.

It's just so hard going back to
kind of the scene of the crime.

I thought I could come
back here,

and it would be okay because
it's over, but it's not okay.

It's...

it's
just...

It was
just all
so wrong.

TV REPORTER:
Canadian authorities are
investigating a Whistler
sled dog operation

for allegedly slaughtering
up to 100 dogs after the
2010 Winter Olympics.

Documents revealed that
company sales dropped off
after the Vancouver Games.

Due to the decline
in business,

the company allegedly ordered
the killing of its sled dogs.

Robert Fawcett is the former
director of the Howling Dog
Sled Dog Company.

No one answered the door of
his home in Pemberton.

Nobody forced him to
slit those dogs throats,

shoot them multiple times,
create a mass grave.

TV REPORTER:
He also had to perform
'execution style' killings

where he wrestled
the dogs to the ground

and stood on them with
one foot to shoot them.

The last few kills were
'multiple shot' killings

as he was simply unable
to get a clean shot.

-My god, he should
get the maximum.

There's no
doubt about it.

PROTESTOR:
Rot in hell, Bob Fawcett!
Rot in hell!

It appears officials
have already
determined the

location of that mass
grave though they may
have to wait

until spring when the
snow is thawed before
they can start digging.

-The Whistler
thing,

I think was the first real
eye opener for people

about what happens behind the
scenes at dog operations.

100 dogs being killed at
Whistler is a horrible
thing,

but that's just the tip
of the iceberg.

In Canadian
law,

animals are still
treated as property,

and that's the same in most
countries in the world,

including the
United States.

So, almost across the board,
animals are considered

no more valuable than
a piece of furniture.

Sled dog companies
are businesses.

They're there to
make a profit,

they're not there
for the welfare
of the dogs.

And even with
the best of
intentions,

when a business
is in trouble,

what matters is
the bottom line.

There are still remnants
of what happened here.

Oh my god, this is one of
the things they had on the
back of the trucks

that they used to
transport the dogs in.

They're so
tiny.

You can see here, you
can pull one of these
off.

They used to put 2 or 3 dogs
inside of these things,

and in the early days
they lived in these.

This is where
they lived.

Their whole
lives,

they'd only get out to eat
and use the bathroom.

I mean, there
was no...

It's horrible how these
animals lived and...

that we would even think that
this is close to acceptable.

For them to have to live
their lives in these boxes

so that they can
run for us.

PATRICK:
When I'm out there
it's just me and the dogs.

We're travelling,
we're eating, we're sleeping,

we're travelling, we're eating,
we're sleeping.

So just like a wolf pack
will be travelling across
the Alaska tundra,

we're doing the
same things.

I got lost.

I just took a
wrong turn.

So, I did about an
extra 45 mile run.

It's a rough
trail.

You are beat up,
you're bruised up,

you're thrown in the trees
and off the sled.

And you think of the dogs
as being athletes.

They've gone through so
much stress that they

physically and
mentally change.

-So we're in McGrath, which is
mile 340 of the race.

I have a few sore dogs, that's
probably nothing we can't fix.

The dog, Shamu, came up
with a pretty sore wrist

and I wasn't gonna take
that dog down the gorge,

up Brandi Pass and
down the gorge.

One, I just wouldn't wanna
do that to a poor dog.

It's just not
fair to him.

Yeah, she's got a little
bit of a sore shoulder.

I'm gonna massage it and put
some heat on it with a hand
warmer.

She says, "I'm trying
to sleep, dude. I'm
trying to sleep."

Uh, this is like a
steroidal cream.

Sometimes their feet swell up a
little bit from just the over
and over impact.

This helps reduce that
inflammation.

They're definitely
my buddies.

We have an understanding
with one another.

I'm gonna do this for them,
they do this for me,

it's a very nice,
symbiotic relationship.

I'm gonna feed them as much
as they'll possibly eat,

take care of them,
massage their sore muscles,

and hook them up to go
do what they love to do
with their buddies.

And, at the end of the run
they'll pull me there

and it's just kind of a neat
relationship to have.

Now, what I'm going to
do today is I'm going
to use this weight,

and this puppy
harness,

and I'm going to put
the puppy harness on
one of the puppies,

and see if they'll
pull the weight
around.

I wanna see if
they're ready.

Hey, Moose.
Hey, Moose!

Hey,
Moose!

Good boy.

He'll probably give me
a good run.

Right there.

[Dogs whine]

Alright.

Yeah, you're gonna
give me a good run,
aren't ya?

Although, he's never really
left the yard when he's
been loose, so...

Come on.
[Laughs]

Come on,
Lobo!

Yeah, come on!
Come on!

You can do this,
come on.

Oh,
Lobo!

Come on.

Come on.

Come on,
Lobo.

Come on, come out
from your friends.

Come out from your
friends.

Come on.

It's just-
it's just a rope.

Come on!
Come on!

Look at,
look at.

You need
help?

Come on,
Lacey.

Come on, Lacey.

You're having too much fun
rolling in this snow.

You wanna make a
snow dog, eh?

[Laughs]

Come on, Lydia,
you can do it.

Come on,
Lydia.

Oh!

Come on.
Come on, Lydia.

Come on, baby.
Come on, Lydia.

That's it,
show Moose.

You know what
you're doin'.

Crawling on your belly,
that's not the way a sled
dog runs. [Laughs]

Come on!

You're doin'
good.

Come on,
Lacey.

Come on,
sweet heart.

I had moved to Aspen in
1990 and there was always

newspaper articles
about Krabloonik.

I love dogs and I thought
if anything is ever gonna
get done there,

get to the bottom of
what's going on,

it's gonna take an
organised effort.

I met Lee
Ann Vold,

and the two of us
together decided
to form "Voices,"

and really start
digging in and doing
some research.

TV ANNOUNCER:
You're ready,
go ahead.

Hi, I'm Bill
Fabrocini.

Hi, I'm
Lee Ann Vold.

And we're here in
Snowmass, Colorado.

At the time
there were close
to 300 dogs,

row
after row.

-How could we walk on
this big property with 300
dogs at a time chained up,

and no one was kicking
us off the property?

There is this many dogs
here and no one is coming
to check on them,

there's no
one here.

This is a
storage
facility.

These dogs are just here
to be stored until they
can make money.

-We hold not only the
owner of Krabloonik,

Dan
MacEachen,

responsible for the current
standard of care for the dogs,

but also our town
government, and town council

that has provided Dan
with a 20-year lease

in which Dan paid a mere
$200 for the entirety

of a 20-year
period.

That breaks down to
83 cents a month.

We need this council first to
say, "We hear it, we care,"

and that's what we'd like to
hear tonight from you -

that you actually care
about these dogs.

'Cause if you don't
care about those dogs,

we're wasting
our time here.

We urge you, as stewards
of the community,

to take a strong
position,

and mandate that the Krabloonik
dogs' living conditions

are improved without
further delay.

-How many dogs have I seen die
from kidney failure

from eating stones,
from chewing their houses apart?

-The Snowmass
Village residents,

town council,
police department-

that whole town up there
runs as a good old boy
network.

So you have a business
owner who's operating on
free land,

given to him by his buddy,
the mayor on the town
council,

protected by the
police department,

and no
oversight.

-Tonight, I'm not
taking any discussion
for this item.

Sorry.

We're all showing
up tonight,

do you think this is fair
as the mayor of a town?

BILL BOINEAU:
Yes.

-We don't.

GUY:
And everybody's in
agreement with that?

COUNCIL MEMBER:
Yes- No.

I don't think they are
in agreement but it's
not their choice.

It's my
choice.

I'm willing to take the heat for
cutting this off but this is...

-We're not trying
to give you any heat,

I'm trying to
understand the process-

BILL BOINEAU:
Guy, we are done, I'm not going
any further with this tonight.

You need to sit
down, or leave,

we need to move on
with our agenda.

GUY:
And if I don't sit down, are
you going to have me removed?

-I might
have to.

You need to
leave, Guy.

GUY:
Okay.

LEIGH:
Good night,
and shame on you.

-Town council meetings are
very difficult for all of us.

There was always one or
two people on the council
who were sympathetic,

who wanted
change.

They were overruled
by the majority.

They saw it as a business,
economic vitality,

but did they really consider
the welfare of the sled dogs?

-My name is
Dan MacEachen,

There certainly seem to
be a lot of allegations
being made here today.

I did not come prepared
to answer all these
questions

that Lee Ann has
brought up.

Everything I do, all the work
I do is, is for the dogs.

MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY:
(inaudible)

MAYOR:
Ladies and gentlemen,
I will not permit comments.

-I will remind everybody
that I'm not doing
anything illegal.

There's no violations
in terms of legality.

They're not even living
beings according to the law,

they're
property.

That's always been the
terrible thing about the
care of sled dogs,

so to speak, is that
you can keep a dog
chained.

And it says as long as it's
six feet long, has the
minimal standard of shelter,

you can chain them
their whole life
'til death,

and that's
legal.

[Dogs barking]

-When they're
chained and
tethered

they never
get the
opportunity

to play
with other
dogs,

or explore
their
environment,

which is part of their
natural instinct.

They need to be able
to socialise,

being able to form a
family unit, like a pack.

When that's taken
away from them,

they go from being happy
and playful and healthy,

to being anxious,
nervous, panicked,

depressed, and
insane sometimes.

When they're tethered
they may be living
amongst other dogs,

but it isn't a
community.

It's not a community if
they can't actually
engage with one another,

and interact with one
another, and form
strong social bonds.

That's not a community,
it's a prison.

What we needed was
corroborating evidence.

If we were
gonna prove
this case,

we needed to be
able to basically
find dogs,

then do the forensic
science that would
corroborate

the fact that not
only were they
shot -

'cause we gotta keep
in mind that's not
illegal -

that they
suffered prior
to.

We brought in experts
from all over who were
experts in,

to be honest,
human crimes.

So, human
mass burials

because the forensics
involved in this case

mirrored
mass graves.

And I just commend the people-
uh, talking about it-

[Getting emotional]
I commend the constables, who
worked on that because they're-

they don't know what
they're gonna find.

[Shutter clicks]

I know for everybody
involved that day,

it was quite a moment when
the first bag and body
was uncovered.

I was on the outside of a
fence, just right over there,

and looking down
into this pit,

and you could
smell it first.

It was...

You kinda knew that
morning as the,

the smell started
to come out.

You know, that's the
smell of death.

Bob Fawcett goes into great
detail about a few of the dogs,

and Nora was
one of them.

And he indicates how he
missed the shot with Nora,

and he blew off
part of her head.

And so there
was an eye, uh,

hanging out and Nora
was running around.

And so when our constables
found Nora, um,

which is, you
know, in, um,

incredible that she was a
bit preserved in one sense,

um, being able to then identify
this is exactly what happened.

SCIENTIST 1:
It looks like we've got some
blunt force trauma to the head.

SCIENTIST 2:
So we have 11 puppies
from Site D

that we're trying to
determine cause of death.

We actually found bruising
along the ribs here,

and also similar bruising on the
skin at the exact same level.

So what this
tells us

was this dog was originally
stepped on in the thorax area,

and the chest and
abdomen crushed.

And then the head
was crushed.

-This was a place where
terrible, horrible
things happened.

Right here.

This is where they were shot,
this is where they...

this is...

This is where they died
horrible deaths.

It's so sad to look at it now
and it looks so normal,

like it never happened and
that's what scares me.

I think if there was any
white lining in any of
this it was like,

maybe now
it'll stop.

You're thinking,
"Oh my god,

oh my god, how horrible is
this but maybe now it'll stop."

-It was a terrible black
eye for British Columbia.

NEWS REPORTER:
Premiere Christy Clark
made the announcement

exactly one year after 100
sled dogs were slaughtered

by an operator
near Whistler,

and two months after a
provincial task force

launched its
investigation.

As a
veterinarian,

I can tell you that
I'm, uh, extremely
proud of the work

of this group
and, uh,

and this group wanted
to make animal welfare

and animal
care,

uh, something that
BC can be proud of.

NEWS REPORTER:
The province now promising
immediate action

on 10 recommendations
to ensure such a cull

never happens
again.

The toughest
penalties in the
country,

the highest fines, the
longest, potential
prison sentences,

I think that
that's a big
change.

-Here was a government
sponsored task force

advising how to shoot a
dog after this incident
about dogs being shot.

The problem is that because
they're created this myth that
sled dogs are different,

and the government
in BC has gone
along with this,

that it's okay and
legal to shoot your
surplus sled dogs.

The only problem Mr.
Fawcett had was

that the way he
killed the dogs

involved some suffering
to those animals

because he did it
incompetently

that's why he was
prosecuted.

But if someone did a
neater, cleaner job,

they would get away with
killing all those dogs.

What we called for was
a complete ban

and the government just
wasn't gonna go there

and we realised that fairly
quickly from some of the
statements they made.

And the reason for that,
from our point of view,

is that they knew that there
were sled dog operations
throughout the province

that were part of the
business community,

that there was money
to be made,

that the government
supported business,

and that they were going to
side with that industry.

PATRICK:
Hi Malaki.

MALACKI:
Rookie checker.

-Rookie checker?
I'm a rookie musher.

-53.

-I've
got 11.

So, I dropped Dingo at
the first check point.

He was just
extremely sick.

Really, really
bad diarrhea.

And then at
Finger Lake,

I dropped Trighton who was
kinda throwing up a lot,

and really, really
dehydrated.

I think at one point I dropped
three dogs at three or four
checkpoints,

so it was kind of
freaking me out.

With this group
of dogs,

I'm noticing everything
that's going on in
their lives.

And, you
know,

I have to make a
choice on what to do

depending on
what is happening.

-When they become
physically incapable
of going,

they will
not go.

So, at a checkpoint,
you drop the dog.

On the trail, you load
the dog up and you carry
it to the checkpoint.

We have a number
of parameters
that we use

to evaluate
these dogs,

and I have a trail
veterinary staff

of approximately 45 on
any given year.

And their role is to
specifically examine
every dog

as necessary to
determine their
well-being.

Usually about a third of the
dogs might be dropped.

When you get out there,
the dogs change,

their personalities change,
their characteristics change.

The dogs get a lot
of miles on them

but they don't have all
those miles in such a
short amount of time.

It's kinda like somebody
running and marathon,

and tomorrow we're gonna
go run another marathon.

And now somebody asks
you to run ten in a row.

That's what these
guys are doing.

-The truth about the sled
dogs and how they live

is somewhat
obscured

because all that
most people see

are the tip of a
very dirty and cruel
iceberg,

which is the
race itself.

And in fact, most of those
people only see the start
and the finish,

they don't even see the
1,000 miles in between.

The basis of the
Iditarod, the famous
Serum Run,

where they use sled dogs to
take a serum all the way to
Nome Alaska,

is a pretty
amazing feat.

What people don't
realise is that it was
done out of necessity,

and it was never done
with one team of dogs,

that ran the thousands of
miles all the way to Nome.

It was done
in relays.

So, what they've created
around that very fascinating,

magnificent piece of history
is they're now forcing dogs

to do something that
people in the past

would never have
asked dogs to do,

that people would have realised
would be abusive to dogs.

And now they're marketing it as
a recreation of that event,

and it bears no
resemblance to the event.

It's a big money
sporting event now.

That's what
it is.

The other thing they've done
successfully is to create

a mystique around
sled dogs,

that because they're uniquely
hardy, because they,

they're tough and they
can withstand cold,

that they're somehow
different in terms of their

needs compared
to other dogs.

The image, the thing
that people see,

the start of the Iditarod is
all very carefully managed.

And the bad stuff;
the cullings,

the dogs that are
kept out on these,

these short chains for the
vast majority of their lives,

is all happening out in
the middle of nowhere.

It's happening
out of sight,

out of
mind.

They compare their dogs
to human super athletes,

but human athletes get
to decide when to train,

how much to
train,

when is it being destructive
to their bodies.

And they give
informed consent,

of course dogs can't
give informed consent.

[Wet footsteps]

[Chains rattling]

-Behind the
scenes,

you get back there, you see
some really horrible things.

You see some really
sadistic people.

See, when you go to
work like that

they'll give you about
20 dogs, young dogs.

If they don't have
the black pads on
their feet,

if they have white pads,
they'll kill them when
they're puppies

'cause they want them
black pads 'cause
they're tougher.

They have to have
good feet to race.

And your job is to
run them young dogs,

so then if you have one that's
doing really good, you'll say,

"Hey, this dog's
doing pretty good,

you need to
take him out."

Or if you have a dog that's
just not gonna do it,

you say, "Well, you know,
that one's not gonna make it."

That'll be his last
day right there.

INTERVIEWER:
What do
you mean by that?

They'll shoot
him right there.

STEPHEN:
I find it particularly
offensive that the industry

is trying to
characterise these dogs,

whether they call them an
athlete or whatever,

it's really what
they're saying is,

these dogs are designed to
do what we want them to do,

that these
are tools.

-If they were elite athletes
that can handle the stress

of endurance
racing,

why would they get
bleeding stomach ulcers?

Why would their hormones be
suppressed and their immune
system ruined?

Why would their internal
organs and their
musculoskeletal system fail?

Why would orthopaedic
injuries be the number
one cause

for them having to be
taken out of the race?

It's too much stress and
strain for them to endure.

PATRICK:
You guys just don't want
the water, do you?

[Quitely]
Wake up.

-The biggest thing that I
was bummed out about was

I wanted my dogs to be eating
better than they were

because all season,
they were just monsters.

-Some of them
wanna quit eating.

They're so tired,
they don't wanna eat.

And you think the thing is
falling all apart.

PATRICK:
Crew?

PATRICK:
Well, everyone's
been sick, so....

I mean we're just, we're
just starting to...

PATRICK:
Yeah. And it's
hot out here, so...

it's why I haven't
put straw down yet.

He's performing
really well.

The guy made me
drop a dog like that

at the last
check point,

similar, but he
was aspirating,

he was throwing up
a little bit,

so, I agreed
to do that.

VET STAFF:
As long as they
aren't hurt.

PATRICK:
What's his
temperature?

PATRICK:
Yeah. Yeah.

For how long he's
been resting already?

Or like high in
general.

PATRICK:
Okay.

PATRICK:
How far is the
next run to...

PATRICK:
It's a big run.

PATRICK:
Yeah.

-Here
you go.

-Oh
yeah.

PATRICK:
Thank you.

-I used to
tell the dogs,

"Hey, you know, you
have to do this.

And if you don't do it,
they will kill you."

They're like tools. That's
all they are is a tool.

You don't use a bad tool, you
don't use a cheap camera.

You use the best
camera you got.

If that was a
cheap camera,

after the first deal you
would throw it away.

A dog, you just take him
out and shoot him.

-The momentum had been
building for a while and
the DA finally said,

"I'm taking
this case."

And the DA decided to
do an inspection,

a surprise inspection
with the state,

and with independent vets
who would observe the dogs,

and that's when they found eight
dogs that were malnourished,

some needed
vet care.

And Dan MacEachen
was charged

with animal cruelty
on eight counts.

It justified
the years of our work,

of people saying that we didn't
know what we were talking about.

We did know what we
were talking about.

-We've been
through a very

difficult few years
with Krabloonik.

All of us in public office
and our community,

we've seen a lot of press,
both locally, nationally,

and
internationally,

and I applaud you on the
work you've done so far,

and we'll look forward for
what your vision is.

-Krabloonik is an
evolution right now,

and every single day,
things are changing,

things are getting
better for the dogs.

We developed the best practices,
and submitted it to you guys,

based on our feelings and
how we feel a kennel

should be operated
and ran.

And we're happy that you
guys agree with this.

As members of the
town council,

you have the power to
affect meaningful

and compassionate
change for these dogs.

Anti-chaining laws are in effect
in almost half of the states

in our country, and for
a very good reason;

because chaining is
exceedingly cruel.

You're probably
aware that PACFA,

the regulating body that
licenses sled dog operations
in Colorado,

permits sled dog operators
via a loop hole,

the option to tether
sled dogs indefinitely-

-That's
incorrect.

And the way PACFA works is that
there is a tethering waiver,

not a loophole, that
we applied for-

-And the loophole
within the waiver,

is that dogs that don't
run are not monitored.

What about
the one-

GINA/DANNY:
That's not true.

-One reason that we tried
so hard to buy this company

is to preserve
a tradition.

There's a tradition
of man and dogs,

and the love
of nature

and the
outdoors,

and it's been going on for
thousands of years.

If it wasn't humane
we wouldn't do it.

-Okay, so, the
biggest thing

I think we need to
educate the public on

is that there are sled
dogs and there are dogs.

LEIGH:
The new owners worked
for the former owners,

and did not
speak up.

And I don't think they
would make certain changes

if it weren't for
public pressure.

QUESTION:
Here in Snowmass,
tethering,

continual chaining,
is still legal.

Are you willing to
take the backlash,

the kickback
for that?

Well, I'm very willing
to take the kickback.

I will take the kickback
if we're talking
dog sledding operations.

If it's just the
pet in the house
and tethering,

that's another
whole issue to me.

To me that is
animal cruelty.

-Each dog now, on average,
is at least 6 hours,

if not more, a week that
they're off tether.

Whatever works
for them.

What works
best for the dogs.

I think, some of them
will be able to be
off tether like this,

and some
never will,

so, right now our
expectation is do whatever
is the best for them.

Well,
you know...

-No,
I don't...

You what I
think?

That's part of the
negative history.

That's not
our history.

We don't have anything
to say about Voices.

QUESTION:
Would you be
owning this place?

I don't think we need to
talk about the Voices.

-You know,
that's, uh,

that's just a whole
bunch of drama

that I don't even wanna
get involved with.

You know, it's 100 percent
drama, all of it.

I don't have a problem
with a business

that is trying to
be profitable.

I believe everyone has a
right to try to make money.

That's the
million-dollar question

can there be a sled dog industry
that is fair to the sled dog?

TV REPORTER:
The kennels where the Whistler
sled dogs once lived

is back in
business.

Now owned and operated by
a not-for-profit group

dedicated to the
humane treatment

and well being of
working dogs.

-As an animal welfare
organisation,

I mean the first
thing I said is,

"Those dogs are coming off
the chains, like, now ."

The idea was to prove
that it could be done,

and it could be done
fiscally responsibly,

so that you could still make a
profit and take care of dogs.

So, here
we are.

We are the company
that has the
surviving sled dogs.

We are in
Whistler.

We were front-page news
all across the country,

and I thought,
"nobody's coming."

I was like, "we gotta
batten down the hatches,

we gotta think that dog
sledding is on its way out,

particularly this
season,

we're going to really
struggle to survive."

Well,
I was wrong.

We were full.

TV REPORTER:
The dogs now belong to
Whistler Sled Dog Company

but the new operation,
which was formed to prove that

humane dog sledding can
be profitable, wasn't.

-We failed.

I mean,
we failed miserably.

And this is with thousands
of volunteer hours,

and with being the number one
booked dog sled operation in
Whistler.

And we couldn't
do it.

We had 189 dogs
to take care of,

and we weren't providing
the level of care,

and the level of life that we
were comfortable with as
animal welfare people.

Feeding the dogs,
caring for the dogs,

margins are very small,
and the season is short.

It didn't make any sense
on a financial level, at all.

Based on what
happened in Whistler,

we demonstrated
that it's very
challenging,

if not
impossible, to
run a humane,

ethical sled dog company,
and still make a profit.

And unfortunately, the vast
majority of sled dog operators

are making a profit at the
cost of animal welfare.

-I'm in a position where it's
very fair for me to say

that this industry
is an abomination.

I question whether anyone
can do commercial dog
sledding ethically.

GENA:
No, we have to work
together with this, Moose.

This is a
togetherness thing.

Yeah, this way, we put it on
this way, yes...

One foot through here,
one through here.

Yes, yes!

I know, you're full of
vinegar aren't you, hey?

[Dogs barking]

Haga!

Look at him go,
he's got it already!

We want you to go
this way today

since we got a trainee
on here, okay?

We're gonna go this
way today.

This way.

Come one,
over here.

I know, you wanna go that way,
we're going this way.

[Dogs whine]

I know,
it's deep.

We're gonna make
a new path.

GINA VO:
I respect them,
and they respect me.

If they didn't
respect me,

they would not do the job
that they're supposed to do.

-Good boy,
Moose!

GINA VO:
They love running and,
believe it or not,

they like being
part of a team.

-That's a girl.

The thing you have to
remember here is

that these dogs
are bred for it.

They've been
born into it.

His father is a sled dog,
his mother is a sled dog,

his grandfather is a sled dog,
and his grandmother is a sled
dog.

So it's right in their,
their make up.

It's instinctual,
I think.

-Dogs are naturally quite
fastidious creatures and,

if given
the choice,

they will differentiate
between sleeping areas,

eating areas,
and elimination areas.

The problem with tethering is
that they're unable to do that.

They're forced to have
to eat, and sleep,

and eliminate in
the same areas,

and it goes
completely against

what their internal needs
and their internal drives
are telling them.

So, it's very
stressful for them.

GENA:
When you get a dog,

you're responsible
for it, for its life.

Not just for a week,
not just for a year.

You have taken it and you
are responsible for the
whole life of that dog.

And I try to give my dogs a
good quality of life.

That's really
important to me.

It's very important
that my dogs are happy.

QUESTION:
I think you've got a...

Jackie just
said to me...

she thinks that one
of the dogs is sick,

or dying,
or something.

GENA:
Oh!
Which one?

QUESTION:
I don't
know.

GENA:
Not today!

Oh! Oh!

No! No!
Oh....

Yeah. Yeah, he's
passed away.

In the night.

I have to get
my sleigh.

Yeah, he's
dead.

You know I, I lost
his brother last year...

and I just hate
losing a dog.

I just hate
losing a dog.

Especially in
the wintertime.

Oh, Ratchet...

Oh, Ratchet.

Poor old boy.

Poor old boy,
hey?

Hey?
Poor old boy.

I know.

Yes, Babe.

Yes, Babe,

it's Ratchet.

It's just so
hard to take.

That's... dogs don't live
long enough, you know.

They just don't
live long enough.

We need another 20
years at least.

We need another
20 years.

That's a good boy.

He's a good boy.

[Sniffles]

Oh dear...

I'm never ready.

It doesn't
matter.

I'm never
ready.

[Dogs howling]

ANNOUNCER:
Coming up Front Street,
you can see the police escort

bringing in Patrick Beall
to the finish line.

[Crowd cheering]

Being on a sled is just like
nothing else I've ever done.

No matter what
happens,

I'm gonna always have a
love for this sport,

and a love for these
types of dogs.

I would probably do it
again, absolutely.

None of the dogs that I dropped
from the race are done...

They're gonna be right
back next year

in the training program and
I'll see what they can do.

-I wanted Mike 'cause they had
told me how much they had beat
him,

and I got him when he was about
10 and I used him two years,

so he was about 12.
And I told him, I said,

"When I leave," I said,
"you're going with me."

It's hard for me to
talk about him.

He had been totally broken,
mind and spirit.

Just totally.

Just something
about Mike.

He just seemed like
he needed a friend.

DOUG:
Wasn't it Ghandi
that said,

"We are judged by the way
we care for our animals"?

-If that's the case, we're
in deep, deep, deep shit.

-We use these animals
as entertainment,

and meanwhile this is
the dirty, dark secret.

This is where they live,
this is how they live.

They get slaughtered,
they get...

There's companies that leave
their dogs for days,

and someone just goes
back and feeds them,

and it happens all the
time and we pretend that,

that we've
fixed this,

that it's all
better now.

It's not fixed.

The Whistler massacre was years
ago, and nothing's changed.

People, everybody
was up in arms

and thought how
horrible it was,

and we're gonna
make this better

and this will never
happen again.

It's still happens,
it's still happening,

and it'll continue to happen
until people say, "No more."

[Whistles]

-Lew!

What you doin',
goof ball?

What you doin'?
What you doin'?

What's up?

Come
here.

-The verdict is in,
I think there's been
enough investigation,

there's been enough of
what happened here, that as
a society we need to say,

"Enough."

Because if we don't,
then we're all
complicit in this.

Because it can be stopped,
and it should be stopped.

Okay.

Off you
go.

What do you think,
bud? Hmm?

You don't much care about
this place anymore, do you?

DR. REBECCA LEDGER:
The majority of the
Whistler sled dogs

have been rehomed,

and have become
wonderful pets.

We have an amazing
community group,

people who know these
dogs have suffered,

have stepped
up to the plate

and have taken
on these dogs,

and we've become our
own little family.

Dogs have amazing
resilience,

and these dogs bounced
back really well.

-When they're given the
opportunity to learn,

they get there
eventually.

They may need a little
bit more help than the
average dog,

but they can
get there.

PENNY:
You guys are very patient,
waiting very nicely.

We're handing
them all treats,

right next to each other
and they do amazing.

Nobody's fighting.

They're just
domestic dogs,

and they need to have
this kind of a life,

and, you know,
be part of a family.

-There are so many options for
people to run with their dogs,

ski with their dogs,
even sled with their dogs.

-Good dogs!

-So I have all these guys

that I took eight years ago

from Krabloonik.

They got to come home

and live with me.

And I love that we ended up
becoming this family.

-Come on,
guys.

-Up, up!

-I don't love them just because
they're incredible athletes,

they're my
buddies.

These guys are
awesome just as pets.

I mean, they play so many more
roles other than sled dogs.

They emotionally become
our best friend.

They don't
talk back,

they're gonna do
what you wanna do.

"You wanna sleep on
the couch all day?

I'm gonna sleep
with you."

"You wanna go hiking?
I'm gonna hike with you."

"You're crying, I'm gonna
snuggle up against you."

"If someone knocks on the door,
I'm gonna protect you."

And they're just dogs,
just pets. But it's cool.

It's a whole
other aspect.

And they bathe me.

I actually don't
shower.

[Seth and the dogs howl]

Come here,
Surrie.

And Surrie was so shy and
she was even shy with me,

but now, now we're
best friends.

Good dogs!

She snuggles the most,
she screams the most,

you know, when we're
going sledding.

Even if these guys stopped
pulling a sled today,

I'd still love them
just the same.