ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has apologized to an Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher whose dog died at a checkpoint.
PETA last month accused Fairbanks musher Paige Drobny of leaving her dog unattended and said she should be criminally prosecuted.
Drobny dropped a dog at a race checkpoint, where it was cared for by race officials. But snow from a storm covered the dog and it died of asphyxiation.
Drobny's attorney threatened to sue if PETA didn't retract its original accusation and KTUU-TV (http://bit.ly/143RUva ) reports the organization did so Friday.
A PETA statement says Drobny couldn't have known a storm was heading to the checkpoint and that she's not culpable for the dog's death. The organization apologized for suggesting she was.
Drobny called the apology "weak."
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Information from: KTUU-TV, http://www.ktuu.com
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.