New Hampshire musher's dog killed when team crossed busy Alaska highway
Jan. 22—A sled dog belonging to a musher from New Hampshire died while the team was crossing a busy Alaska highway.
Alaska State Troopers said that the dog was struck on the Parks Highway near Willow, about 75 miles north of Anchorage, at 2:11 p.m. on Wednesday.
The team moved onto the highway from a trail at highway mile marker 75 because of an obstacle, Alaska State Troopers said, and a pickup traveling on the main highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks collided with the dog team.
The musher, identified as Lakes Region-based musher Jaye Foucher, had been living in Willow since August, training for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Anchorage television station KTUU reported. She previously trained in Michigan, the TV station reported.
The driver assisted the musher and dog team, along with others, troopers said. One dog died at the scene, and another ran off into the woods. Two injured dogs were taken to a veterinarian, troopers said.
No people were injured, and no criminal charges or citations have been issued, troopers said.
"This was my Willow 300 team that just got hit, so I honestly don't know if I even have a team for Willow 300 or Iditarod because they just knocked out," Foucher told the Anchorage television station.
"The dead dog was one of my main leaders ... two of the more injured dogs are two others of my main leaders, so I may not even have a front end left anymore. I can't even wrap my head around that yet."
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
