While the film starts out nicely enough, it quickly descends into lies. Many are lies of omission by not presenting all the information available. The information on Starz which aired the film states: "a profile of what happens at sled dog operations after the Iditarod ends and the tourists go home." The only kennel in the movie that was used in Iditarod is of a rookie musher. He doesn't own that kennel, an Iditarod champion does. It is not a touring kennel. Their attempt to make the rookie look bad failed. His dogs came across the finish line in Nome with tails wagging and heads held high.
The attempt to portray Krabloonik in Colorado was so mixed up in it's messages. I have been to the kennel as recently as October of 2017. Under new management, it is wonderfully run. I saw dogs as happy as can be. The film claims they are tied to a chain for life. Not true. They get off those chains every day to run in the several fenced acres there. In winter, they are running down hill giving tourists rides in a sled. For sled dogs, this place is golden. The former owner may have had problems. But the film claims the current owner worked for him, so they must be bad as well. That too is untrue. They were there a few weeks before all the legal troubles began. They bought the kennel, at an outrageous price, to save the dogs. Dan MacEachen died, probably because of all the stress this whole event caused.
As for the situation in Whistler, BC that came as a shock to all mushers. The mushing community is always prepared to help fellow mushers in need. No one knew the kennel was in trouble. We all are very sad over that situation.
There are many more things I could add but will not go into a lengthy review. I have 8 pages of notes from the movie. All the "experts" presented on tethering dogs could easily have been refuted by other studies. Do your homework folks.
One last comment, near the end of the movie is video of dead dogs found in a conex trailer in Willow, Alaska. Of course, they never say who this belonged to and where it is. Of course not, because it didn't belong to a musher. I know this for a fact as I lived in Willow at the time and know the person who owned the trailer. I attended his trial for dog abuse. He was a hoarder who thought he could make money breeding dogs and selling puppies. He couldn't. No one does. If you think mushers make money off racing dogs, you are mistaken. Any money won at a race, immediately goes back into a kennel.
So, Fern thinks she has made a movie that will shut down the Iditarod and/or touring kennels. She hasn't. She has only made a work that proves she does not deserve the title director or documentarian. I say this with certainly as a documentary film maker myself. I have worked in television production since 1971 and have owned a sled dog team since then as well.
