SP Kennel Wins CB300 Humanitarian Award

Aliy just called from the dog truck on the way back from the CB300 Awards Banquet and said, "Great News! SP Kennel won the CB300 Humanitarian Award!"

Because dog care is so important in the sled dog community, Humanitarian Awards are presented by race veterinarians to the musher whom they believe took the best overall care of his or her dogs during the race. Humanitarian Awards are highly coveted, and many mushers say that receiving one is more rewarding to them than winning the race.

So, it was natural for me to respond to Aliy's news by saying, "That's fantastic! Which of you won it?"

"That's the really great thing!" she replied. "It wasn't one of us, it was all of us. The whole of SP Kennel! The mushers, the handlers, everybody!"

Between Aliy's excitement, the truck noise and the poor cell phone connection it was hard for me to catch the whole story, but it goes something like this: The CB300 race veterinarians congratulated all of the mushers on really excellent dog care during the race. They said that the overall level of dog care was so good that they found it difficult to spotlight just one musher to receive their Humanitarian Award.

What they were really struck by, though, was the fact that one kennel -- SP Kennel -- showed such extraordinary dog care across all three of its teams. The health and fitness of the dogs coming into the race, the care they received during the race and how great they all looked at the end of the race. So, in a first ever, the CB300 race veterinarians presented this year's Humanitarian Award not to a single musher, but to SP Kennel as a whole!

I'm sure you can imagine the Team's excitement. It may not be quite enough to console Allen about not winning the race, but he certainly feels a little better about his performance now. Aliy, of course, is downright beaming. "I never thought I could be more proud than when I won the Iditarod Humanitarian Award in 2005" she said. "But this might be the moment."

And Bridgett? Well, seconds after I hung up with Aliy, I received this photo and a call from her during which she exclaimed with her typical enthusiasm, "This is freaking awesome! We always tell people how much of a 'dog first' kennel we are, and now we've got a stuffed dog with harness award to prove it! Don't tell my dad, but I think this is better than if he'd won the race!"



I, for one, agree with her. Based on what I read in all of your comments throughout the race, I imagine you do too!

Here's your chance to let them know for sure!

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