Feds' Lone Dog-Mushing Job Opens Up

German artist planned to strangle them in creepy show

(NEWSER) - Two puppies in Berlin would be relieved to read this. A court in Berlin stopped an artist from staging a provocative theater piece yesterday in which he planned to strangle two puppies with cable ties, The Local reports. The show's theme: the plight of Spanish hunting dogs and Alaskan sled dogs, which are apparently killed the same way when they're unable to work. The court said that laws forbid animals from being hurt during a stage production. More»

Dallas Seavey, 25, first to cross the line in Nome

(NEWSER) - A 25-year-old five-time Iditarod racer became the youngest musher ever to win the grueling sled-dog contest. The first thing Dallas Seavey did at the end of the 1,000-mile race in Nome yesterday was to greet family and friends—then hug his nine dogs, reports AP . "They mean the world to me," said Seavey, who turned 25 just 10 days ago, on the race's first day. "I could not be prouder of these guys." He threw an arm around his favorite dogs, Guinness and Diesel, on the winner's podium, and added: "Dream big!" He finished an hour ahead of female racer Aliy Zirkle, 41, who was runner-up. More»

All 3 on board dead

(NEWSER) - A cargo plane crashed in Denali National Park in Alaska, killing all three people on board and sparking a forest fire. "The plane pretty much disintegrated," said a park spokeswoman. Members of the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive on the scene today. Identities of the dead were being withheld until relatives could be contacted. More»

(NEWSER) - In the recession, international air travel is down and national park attendance is way up. Forbes runs down the crème de la crème of America’s national treasures, but be warned: “It's been incredibly hard to get camping space at most national parks,” one travel agent says.

• Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii: Home to Mt. Kilauea, the most active volcano in the world. The park is "an exhilarating up-close crash course in the forces that shape the earth's profile," one travel author raves.

'They're the best dogs, hands-down,' winner says of Alaskan canine team

(NEWSER) - Lance Mackey won his second consecutive Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race today, crossing the finish line in Nome, Alaska, after 1,100 miles over 9½ days, the AP reports—despite unseasonably warm weather and occasionally quarrelsome dogs. "I don't know exactly how to explain it," said Mackey, a 37-year-old throat-cancer survivor. "I'm just blessed with an incredible dog team." More»