PETA apologizes to Iditarod musher from Alaska

Group accused Drobny of leaving dog unattended before it died

4/8/2013

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — 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 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 calls the apology “weak.”