In the remote Caswell Lakes area near Willow, Alaska, a horror was waiting at a sled dog kennel. Twenty-five dogs were found dead on the property, their lives ended not in an instant but slowly, painfully, over time.
These were sled dogs, animals built for endurance and loyalty, bred to run and to work alongside people. Instead they were left to waste away from starvation and severe neglect, their bodies failing as the food and care they depended on never came.
The scale of the loss is almost impossible to take in. Twenty-five animals died at a single property, and a woman was arrested and charged with 26 counts of cruelty to animals, charges that under Alaska law can qualify as Class C felonies carrying steep fines and up to five years in prison each.
The neglect did not stop at the dogs. After the grim discovery, an eviction was filed against the property owner, a final marker of just how far things had been allowed to fall apart while these animals quietly died.
Sign now if you agree that what happened to these dogs was wrong, and that the person responsible should never be allowed to keep animals again.