Sled Dogs (film)

Sled Dogs
Directed byFern Levitt
Produced byFern Levitt
Arnie Zipursky
Edited byFrank Cassano
Production
company
Distributed bySearch Engine Films
Release date
  • December 3, 2016 (2016-12-03) (Whistler)
Running time
82 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Sled Dogs is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Fern Levitt and released in 2016.[1] The film explores the Iditarod, raising allegations of animal cruelty among breeders, trainers and kennelers of the event's sled dogs.[2]

Criticism

At least one dog keeper tried to obtain a legal injunction against the film's premiere at the Whistler Film Festival, alleging that Levitt had misrepresented footage of an unethical commercial pet breeder as being from a sled dog breeder. Keepers also defended practices such as chaining dogs and shooting injured dogs.[3] A sled dog operator also filed a similar complaint with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation after the film was broadcast on Documentary Channel in 2017, resulting in a report by CBC ombudsman Esther Enkin.[4]

Awards and nominations

The film received a Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards, for Best Editing in a Documentary (Frank Cassano), Documentary category, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and won the World Documentary Award at the Whistler Film Festival.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ "Documentary 'Sled Dogs' exposes harsh realities of Iditarod". Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2017.
  2. ^ "Review: ‘Sled Dogs’ Exposes Abuse of Working Animals". The New York Times, July 27. 2017.
  3. ^ "Musher threatens legal action over Sled Dogs documentary". CBC News, November 27, 2016.
  4. ^ "Point-of-View Documentaries | The Case of Sled Dogs". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, January 29, 2018.
  5. ^ "Apr 08, 2018, page T8 - Valley Morning Star at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  6. ^ Pat Mullen, "Canadian Screen Awards Preview: Picks and Foolish Predictions". Cinemablographer, March 11, 2018.