Mackey's injured dog Zorro flown to Seattle for treatment
Published Sunday, March 30, 2008
ANCHORAGE -- Lance Mackey's dog Zorro was being flown to Seattle on Sunday for a test on his spine after the Iditarod champion's sled was rear-ended by a snowmachine during the All Alaska Sweepstakes race.
"He at this point can't stand up or walk," said Tonya Mackey, Lance's wife, as the couple prepared to leave Nome early so that they could accompany the dog to Seattle. "They need to do some testing to see if he needs back surgery right away."
Zorro is a 9-year-old dog in Lance Mackey's Comeback Kennel, and a key element to the Iditarod musher's recent phenomenal success. Mackey is the only musher to record back-to-back wins in the 1,100-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race and the 1,150-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. He did it first in 2007 and then again this year. Zorro is his foundation stud dog.
In Seattle, the dog will see a specialist and get an MRI, a test used to get a detailed image of the body.
Tonya Mackey said there was a 50/50 chance that the dog will never walk again.
Denny Albert, lead veterinarian for the All Alaska Sweepstakes, said more tests are needed.
"At this point, I would say that we are cautiously optimistic about his outcome. It really depends on what they find on the MRI," she said. "We are crossing our fingers."
Mackey finished third in the 408-mile All Alaska Sweepstakes, being run on its 100th anniversary. Former Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey won the $100,000 winner-take-all race on Friday.
Mackey was in third place at around midnight Friday and closing in on the finish line when two snowmachines came up fast behind his team. Mackey said he shone his headlamp right in the face of the snowmachiner, but he kept coming.
Mackey jumped to the side. He found his sled 30 feet up the trail. The snowmachine's runners had impaled his sled bag, where he was carrying Zorro. Several dogs received less serious injuries.
The driver who hit Mackey and his partner on the other machine helped the musher right his team and then continued on.
Mackey finished the race and did not immediately know Zorro was severely injured. He got some rest and when he awoke he could see his favorite dog was in trouble and called the race veterinarian.
When Albert arrived, Zorro was lying on his side and "shocky," she said. He was given pain medication and fluids, which stabilized him enough for a flight aboard Alaska Airlines to Pet Emergency in Anchorage. Tests there determined the dog had suffered some sort of spinal trauma.
Zorro will see an animal neurologist in Seattle.
"He certainly is not out of the woods," Albert said. "He's being given every opportunity to recover as best he can."
According to Lance Mackey's Web site, the dog has three broken ribs, internal bleeding and spinal injuries.
"He is not able to stand or use his back legs," the Web site says.
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On the Net:
www.mackeyscomebackkennel.com
www.allalaskasweepstakes.org
Comments
I really hope there is a way to find the drivers. There should be some legal action taken against them. I am so sorry to hear about Zorro and I pray that all turns out well. I am just sickened after reading this article and I can't even imagine how the Mackey family feels. My thoughts are with them all.
Angela
I hope Zorro is going to be alright, hopes and prayers are out for him and you both.
I am also praying that the rider comes forth like a man and something is done.. sleds shouldn't be run by the race trails. Things like this are tragic and totally avoidable.
The link above is incorrect...
It's actually http://www.mackeyscomebackkennel.com/
Seems like Lance was more intent on himself finishing well and getting his sleep than checking on his dog which just got impaled. Zorro should have been #1 priority after the accident.
At this point in time blame can wait to be thrown around. ( and it will be, I am sure).
For now, our family is sending all the prayers it can to Zorro and the Mackey family.
My prayers are with Zorro and Lance, but I still only see one person to blame here. That is the driver of the snowmachine. Having more reflective material or lights on the dog teams won't make a damn bit of difference if the snowmachine driver is overdriving his headlights or overdriving his own capabilities. He has to have been really clipping along to have skewered Lance's sled like that! And if he had been drinking, it only compounded the issue of him driving his machine too fast. One needs to be able to stop in time, just like driving a car on the highway. It's called using your common sense!This is the only blame I can see here.
danzop 3/31/2008, 7:38 a.m. Suggest removal
Seems like Lance was more intent on himself finishing well and getting his sleep than checking on his dog which just got impaled. Zorro should have been #1 priority after the accident.
Lance's dogs are ALWAYS his number one priority. He knew that his dogs were being cared for by his handler and being taken to a safer environment than the craziness of Front Street.
Possibly the shining of lights directly into the snowmachiners eyes impeded on his or hers judgment and by the way sleds most likely made and groom the trails for these races which would otherwise not exist.
The link in the story has been corrected. It is www.mackeyscomebackkennel.com. The Mackeys ask that readers go to that site for updates on Zorro's condition.
danzop,
Even if snowmachines groomed the trail, that doesn't excuse the behavior of the driver. If you saw someone waving lights at you in a street, would you drive right at them, and then claim your judgment was impeded? I think not. If the snowmachine driver was confused, it seems to me the logical course of action would be to slow down or stop, to figure out what is going on, not driving right on through the light source. I don't know what else lance could have done.
Danzop - maybe you're trying to play devil's advocate or maybe you don't know Lance or maybe you just don't understand the sport of dog racing but, the trails are groomed before the race starts, not during it while there are dogs and sleds on them. The groomers would have stopped if that were the case. Lance is a total advocate for the dogs, as said before, he had left them with handlers and went to get some sleep. The original story states that he woke up and noticed something wrong and immediatly called the vet, and the dog has been flown to Seattle for crying out loud. And it doesn't matter if the snowmachiner was drunk or not, he should not have been there while the race was going on and if he had to be there, he should have had some respect for the mushers and the dogs. He needs to step up and take his licks like a man, he was wrong and he should admit it.
Sounds like a major case of "rectal/cranial inversion", on part of the snow machine operator. Most likely enhanced by alcohol.
I sit here and wonder why would anyone not know that there was a race going on? How well publicized were the Iditarod and Alaskan Sweeps race? And where did this happen, near Nome, right?
My goodness, before I even moved to Alaska I knew that Nome was the finish line. I even knew where the trail was. How wouldn't someone who resides there or even someone visiting during this time of year not know?
Mackey has been recognized for his outstanding care of his dogs, so many times. His record alone should easily prove he was not at fault in anyway. Sometimes injuries can go undetected for awhile, especially internal injuries.
There would be no blame to point anywhere if the snow machine operator hadn't suffered from a case of "rectal/cranial inversion"
This isn't the first time injuries to a sled team racing in this particular stretch of trail have occurred. There was another incident during the Iditarod just this year.
Lets stop pointing fingers and do something positive to ensure the safety of the mushers, dogs and snow machine operators. The first step is taking responsibility for our own actions.
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