The necropsy results for an Iditarod dog that died Friday while flying to Anchorage indicate that it died from overheating. Smoke, a two-year-old male from Iditarod veteran Scott Smith’s team, was dropped in Manley Hot Springs and was being transported from Galena to Anchorage when it died.
The Iditarod Trail Committee says in a release that they will implement changes to reduce the risk of similar incidents. This includes not transporting dogs wearing protective coats and making sure that future flights have more ventilation and cooler temperatures.
This is the second dog death in the 2017 race. A dog from Seth Barnes’ team died last week. Necropsy results found abnormalities but did not determine an underlying cause of death, according to a release.
