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I'm relying on what the Humane Society of the United States says. This organization does not oppose other mushing events, but it does oppose this race:
" The Iditarod forces the dogs to run too far and too fast in frequently grueling trail and weather conditions, and it exacts a severe, and sometimes fatal, toll on dogs' physical and psychological systems. While the ITC has made some reforms in recent years, such as reducing the maximum size of dog teams from 20 to 16 for better musher control, organizers continue to mass-market the race and hype the competition among mushers who are continually attempting to break speed records. "

“I’m relying on what the Humane Society of the United States says. This organization does not oppose other mushing events, but it does oppose this race:”

Rely on the dog experts not a political group. The Humane Society expends so much effort on so few dogs (this race)because it gets them publicity, it is the same tactic that PETA uses.

Here is an article challenging that view of the HS.
http://www.helpsleddogs.com/RSF_editorial.html

“Oh, and how many dogs in my local humane society were destroyed? Of the 683 dogs that took residence between March 2nd and March 16th, 174 were destroyed. This is more than 10 a day. 1024 dogs took to the starting line in Anchorage with their owners on the 2nd of March, and when it was over 1023 of them were still alive and with their owners. How many are still around? I guess I don’t really know, but I suspect that at least 90% of them are. How many of those 683 do you think are still alive? The Sleddog Action Coalition’s website has a notice by the Humane Society of the US claiming that 119 dogs have died running the Iditarod in the 30 years it has been running. That is 119 dogs out of close to 30,000! Yet in the 2 weeks of just one race, the same Humane society destroyed more dogs in a significanly smaller sampling. I think I like the Iditarod odds much better.”