Sled dog killed as snowmobiler rams Iditarod racers
Digital Reporter
Monday, March 14, 2016, 9:31 AM - At least one sled dog was killed and several others wounded over the weekend, after a snowmobiler attacked two teams of mushers during Alaska's Iditarod sled dog race.
Arnold Demoski, 26, was arrested by Alaska police late Saturday, and appeared by video at a court hearing on Sunday. The Alaska Dispatch reports he faces 12 charges, including two counts of two counts of third-degree assault.
Demoski told TV station KTUU he had been drinking before approaching the two musher teams on his way home, and says he does not remember the collisions.
He called the police when he woke the next morning, heard about the attacks and saw his snowmobile was damaged. He expressed regret for his actions in a video posted to KTUU's Facebook page.
#Iditarod2016 More from the conversation with a snowmachiner who was later arrested for striking the teams of Aliy Zirkle and Jeff King.
Posted by Channel 2 News, KTUU.com on Saturday, March 12, 2016
Demoski first encountered musher Aliy Zirkle and her team on the trail between Kokukuk and Nulato in the early hours of Saturday. Iditarod officials reported the snowmobile hit her sled at least once, and came back for other passes before departing. One of the dogs was bruised. Demoski says he returned to see if Zirkle was okay.
Jeff King's team was next to be struck, and King reported the snowmobile came at his team from behind. Though he himself was not injured, a three-year-old male dog, Nash, was killed. The Dispatch reports another was critically injured, and two others were too hurt to continue the race.
"One of my dogs was killed pretty much on the spot, and a couple others I gave first aid to the best I could and loaded them into my sled," he told an Iditarod camera crew, according to ABC News. "I kind of felt like a triage ambulance."
Iditarod reports both King and Zirkle later resumed the race.
The gruelling Iditarod sled dog race typically begins in early March and takes mushers from Anchorage to the village of Nome. The ceremonial start of the race is typically in Anchorage on the first Saturday of March, while the "official" start is in Willow the next day.
The Anchorage start usually attracts numerous well-wishers, but an unseasonally warm winter this year forced organizers to import tonnes of snow by train from Fairbanks, hundreds of kilometres away.
SOURCES: Alaska Dispatch | KTUU | ABC News | Iditarod
