A rookie New Hampshire musher has decided against running in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race after her team of sled dogs veered onto Parks Highway and collided with a pickup truck, killing one of the dogs and injuring three others.
Jaye Foucher withdrew from both the Iditarod and the Willow 300 on Monday, Anchorage television station KTUU reported.’
“These dogs are my life,” she wrote on her kennel’s Facebook page. “I can’t imagine even being out on a race trail right now while they’re back here in pain, with decisions needing to be made.”
Foucher’s team was struck Jan. 19 on the Parks Highway near the community of Willow, about 75 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska State Troopers reported at the time.
Troopers said the team moved onto the busy highway from a trail because of an obstacle. A pickup traveling on the main highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks collided with the dog team.
The pickup driver was among those who helped Foucher and her dog team, troopers said.
One dog died at the scene, three others are still recovering from their injuries and two dogs that ran away after the accident have returned, Foucher said.
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