Iditarod champion cleared of dog doping

Iditarod officials have cleared a four-time champion of any wrongdoing in a dog-doping scandal that followed the sled dog race last year. Officials for the 1,610-kilometre Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race issued a statement this week absolving musher Dallas Seavey of any involvement in the drugging of his dogs, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Four of Seavey’s dogs tested positive for the opioid painkiller tramadol, a banned substance, following his secondplace finish in March 2017. “We met with him multiple times and there was (sufficient) evidence to conclude he didn’t have anything to do with it,” said Mike Mills, president of Iditarod’s board of directors. Seavey said he presented a “compelling case” to the board. After the test results were made public last year, he had suggested someone sabotaged his team.