Four Thousand Paws: Caring for the Dogs of the Iditarod: A Veterinarian's Story [Paperback]

Few sporting events attract as much attention, or create as much spectacle, as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Each March, despite subzero temperatures and white-out winds, hundreds of dogs and dozens of mushers journey to Anchorage, Alaska, to participate in The Last Great Race on Earth, a grueling, thousand-mile race across the Alaskan wilderness.An intimate accountthe first from a trail veterinarianof the canines who brave the challenges of the Iditarod. Four Thousand Paws is [an] engaging account of the many years [Lee Morgan] has spent on the arduous trail. He puts to rest any argument about how inhumane the race is. From extensive prerace physical exams to almost-daily health checks, the dogs' health and safety, Dr. Morgan makes clear, is the top concern of veterinarians and mushers alike. Morgan shares a journey that is, like many, from the back of a sled, from a freezing tent and neck-deep in snow. But its also about a 10-year love affair with the land, the Iditarod, the mushers that run it and the dogs that make it happen. His front-of-the-line perspective is different, and the race-to-dog balance of the tale is just right. If youre the adventurous type or you love dogs, [A] deeply researched, charmingly narrated, and intensely compassionate behind-the-scenes look at one of the most intense human-animal collaborations in modern history. Readers will leave with a huge appreciation for huskies, the landscape that bred them, and the humans who care for them . . . a captivating, fast-paced, eclectic memoir. [A] riveting and joyous account of [Morgans] work over the past decade caring for the elite canine athletes... The novelistic narrative captures the excitement of the race, and Morgan manages to be sensitive to the dogs interior lives without anthropomorphizing them. Even those with no prior interest in the Iditarod will be enthralled. Veterinarians are the unseen heroes of the Iditarodworking around the clock in frigid temperatures, deep in tl“B