Care for sled dogs injured by hit-and-run

Hello! My name is Sarah, I am Ryan Redington's training partner for racing sled dogs. Over the last few years I have had the privilege of helping him care for, train and race the 40 wonderful dogs of Redington Mushing.

 

On Saturday evening around dinner time (6:45pm), we were mushing two teams on a multi-use corridor trail in northern Wisconsin. The trail here is ideal for training. The path is well groomed, with long straightaways for good visibility down the trail. It's wide enough for four snowmobiles to ride abreast. Safety is a high priority for us, and the dogs are trained to run on the right side of the trail for safe passing from either direction. Additionally, when mushing after sunset our lead dogs wear blinking harnesses or collars, team dogs have reflective harnesses, and we wear LED headlamps with very strong beams that reach beyond the lead dogs.

 

We were almost home, just three miles out, when calamity struck. A snowmobiler approached Ryan's team head on. But instead of stopping or slowing down as many had done earlier, this driver sped UP and actually steered into the team. Whether he meant to spook them or actually make contact we can't know, but he did strike several dogs and nearly hit Ryan and the sled. One wheel dog directly in front of the sled was hit hardest and was flung in the air before landing in the snow in front of the sled. Ryan himself tipped the sled onto its side to avoid being struck, and landed with his face in the snow. The driver halted briefly, but rather than offering assistance, he sped away at high speed.

 

It was then that I encountered that same driver. I was one maybe two minutes behind Ryan when a snowmobile approached at very high speed right down the center of the trail. At the last second he veered off, narrowly missing my lead dogs. I hadn't seen his encounter with Ryan, and unfortunately I could only give a limited description of the driver and snowmobile to authorities.

 

After a minute I caught up to Ryan. "Did he hit you??" Ryan shouted at me through the darkness. His team was parked, and I knew something awful had happened. We called the police. We called our friend at our home kennel to pickup the dogs with broken or badly injured legs. We mushed the final miles home with tears in eyes and more questions than answers.

 

We drove two dogs to the Blue Pearl emergency vet in Duluth Saturday night, who were able to offer diagnostics, pain medicines, and advice. Willy, who led Ryan's team to victory in the 2021 Kobuk440, survived with lacerations and a badly bruised foreleg. Although limping, he should be able to accept more exercise in 2-3 weeks. The wheel dog Wildfire however, had his left rear leg broken in three places. The breaks are so bad, and close to the knee, that they were unable to even be splinted that night. Wildfire is a young rock star in the team. He was in the winning team of 2021 Jr. Iditarod, and he finished the 846 mile 2021 Iditarod with Ryan in 7th place. He's only three years old and could have a long and successful race career ahead of him! Both of these dogs love to run, and seeing someone try to take that away from them is heartbreaking.

 

Currently Ryan is pursuing surgery to fix the broken bones in Wildfire's leg. The vets at Mission Animal Hospital in Eden Prairie, MN believe he has a good chance to run again!

 

My fundraising goal for Ryan and the team is $9,000 to give the dogs the care they deserve. This will help to cover the emergency vet visit ($1,180), Wildfire's exam and surgery ($6,500), plus care and rehabilitation of the dogs involved in the incident. Any funds beyond this goal will go directly to the team as Ryan rebuilds after this devastating incident.

 

Huge thank yous to those who have already donated financial assistance, and to our family, friends and fans who have offered support! I know it will mean the world to Ryan knowing there is a community that cares and he doesn't have to go though this alone.