As many of you know, there are no roads between the villages in Nunavik. Ivakkak is one of the few sled dog races in the world where teams and support crew find themselves in complete autonomy, once on the land. All other long distance races benefit from road access and adapted trucks to transport the animals. Hence, the reality up north poses a challenge in terms of transporting dropped dogs, which can suffer either from an injury, an illness, fatigue or loose dogs. Because there is absolutely no advantage to run a dog that will not help pull the sleigh, mushers are inclined to drop a dog if needed.
Over the years, we found innovative ways to transport the dogs between villages. The solution came as a designated sled in which we secure the dogs for the day. Yesterday, the sled came even more useful as we had to transport dropped dogs but also part of a team who’s qamutik completely broke on the ice. We had a total of nine dogs in the sled !
The dog ambulance
Julie the white huskie dog in the sled has a wink and a smile. I think the huskies have you wrapped around their paws. 🙂 Huskie Howl Express next stop is Umiujaq 🙂