PETA Asks For Probe

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An animal rights group wants Alaska State Troopers to open a criminal investigation into the deaths
this year of five Iditarod dogs, including two on the team of a musher who says they froze to death.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to trooper Col. Audie Halloway. In it, PETA urges him to determine if
any of the four mushers whose dogs died in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race should be charged under the state's cruelty to animals
law.

PETA director Debbie Leahy said in a prepared statement that the five dogs paid for the race with their lives, and "deserve
justice."

Holloway wasn't immediately available for comment.

However, a spokeswoman for the troopers notes that the state law which PETA cites in asking for the investigation does not generally
apply to accepted dog mushing contests.