Why PETA Supporters Held a ‘Dog Funeral’ at the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix
As engines fired up at the Spanish Grand Prix, supporters of PETA and Spanish animal rights party PACMA staged a “dog funeral” in a protest to highlight Formula 1’s (F1) connection to the Iditarod – a deadly dog-sled race.
The demonstration is the latest push in PETA’s campaign to persuade F1’s owner, Liberty Media, to stop sponsoring the controversial dog-sled race through the company’s Alaska-based subsidiary, GCI.
No reputable company would prop up an event that forces dogs to cross 1,000 miles of ice in sub-zero temperatures, running many to their deaths. PETA is urging F1 to steer clear of this death race, as Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, and other former sponsors have already done.
Iditarod, the Deadly Dog-Sled Race
Dogs used in the Iditarod are made to run the approximately 1,000-mile race while pulling heavy sleds through biting winds, blinding snowstorms, and extreme temperatures in some of the most gruelling conditions on Earth.
More than 150 dogs have already died during the race, most commonly from aspiration pneumonia (caused by inhaling their own vomit). This death toll is not counting those who perish during the off-season while left chained up outdoors in below-freezing temperatures or those who were killed because they didn’t make the grade.
Dogs Need You to Take Action
Forcing dogs, humans’ oldest animal companions, to run against their will for our entertainment is a form of speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.
Remind F1’s CEO that racing should involve only willing human participants – urge him to hightail it away from the cruel Iditarod:
