Second Chance League

Spring in Alaska
Springtime in Alaska should mean something to all of us husky lovers. What? See if you can add a new dog to your team from the animal shelter or from SCL! Every spring the shelter fills up with sled dogs that people no longer want. So far we have been having great success at pulling dogs into SCL and finding them good homes. We hope to continue that trend and you can help! There are many great dogs in foster homes with Second Chance League and also trained up sled dogs at the shelter right now. Please consider looking at the dogs and seeing if one can't fit into your lifestyle.

Thanks!

The next board meeting will be on Tuesday, 5 May, at Taco King in Fairbanks.

Spring Husky Dump
It is April in Fairbanks, Alaska...that means only one thing...the Spring Husky dump. A terrible thing to say really, but offers the truth of being a sled dog in Alaska. Many dogs are turned into shelters in the spring. People don't want the expense of feeding a dog through the summer if they are not 100% sure that the dog is going to be on their team next winter. So people start thinning their kennels. And with the economy the way it is many people are downsizing their yards. Some try to sell their dogs or puppies, but others just drop them off at the shelter.

We are always SO grateful that people fill out the paperwork and let us know a lot of information on the dogs. But often people drop them off in the after hours cages and we have no idea why the dog is there at all.

We do try and encourage people not to drop off their dogs in huge groups or if possible to wait until a little later in the summer to drop them off when there is possibly more room to keep them for longer. This beginning of April has been pretty bleak as the backyard continues to be quite full at the shelter. SCL found homes for serveral dogs in March, but there just aren't enough foster or permanent homes for the numbers that are coming in.

So if you are at all thinking of adding another great dog to your team or even as a pet in an active lifestyle, please look at the dogs that SCL has in foster or the many dogs that are still at our animal shelter.

Thank you.

Iris Wood Sutton Finishes!
Iris Wood Sutton has finished the Quest. Twiggy, an SCL dog, led almost the whole way, sometimes in single swing.

As Iris told me....most of the time it is the bond that you have with your dogs that get you through the rough spots. And there were many rough spots along the way from Eagle Summit and then 40 mph winds on Rosebud, all in the 2nd half of the race. Well, it took many people out of the race but Iris and her relationship with the dogs brought them all home to Fairbanks. She was one of 3 people to finish with 11 dogs in her team and all those 3 were rookes.

Congratulations to Iris and all of her dogs, Twiggy, Eagle, Pluto and Belle were SCL dogs. (Ivan, an SCL dog, was dropped in the first half of the race due to a sore wrist.) Two of Iris's dogs were 11 years old that came from another musher.