Sounds very much like a token effort and not reaching out to the community at large-how many people know about 'mushing forums'-your post is the first reference I've ever heard of such a place ever.
How many people would have been reached even by an interview with old line media as opposed to some remote corner of cyber space?
The simple fact is that the company wanted the dogs gone ASAP-food costs money-and so they did as little as possible to keep them alive-with tragic consequences.
Wasn't a token effort as the dogs were listed for months; you can't force people to buy or even take dogs in. Do I think enough was done to find the dogs homes? Hard to say; I don't live in the area or close to it, but I think that a fair warning of "If I don't place these dogs, this will have to happen," would have helped things at least a little.
Just because it's the first time you've heard of it, doesn't mean squat. Have you looked for mushing information? Searched for mushing forums? Wanted to learn about mushing? It's linked on a lot of pro mushing kennel pages as one of the top sources online to and for mushing. It offers a kind of one stop place for anyone interested in the sport or the varying sports associated with sled dogs. It has links to mushing suppliers, lists for mentors, lists of kennels, sales of anything and everything to do with mushing, information area for newcomers, lists books and videos you can buy; it's all there. It's far from a "Remote corner of cyber space".
Easy enough to find if you use a little effort to find it.
That said, a lot of mushers were upset, and still are, over this whole ordeal. It puts strain on an already questionably imaged community due to people from PETA and others who think sledding is cruel. As much as I hope the people involved are duly punished, the damage this has done to the community as a whole will take longer to recover from.
