Snowmobiler crashes into dog sled team in Wisconsin then speeds away, musher says
A dog sled team was struck by a snowmobile while they were training on a snowy trail in Wisconsin, the dogs’ owner says.
The snowmobiler sped toward Ryan Redington and his team on the Tri-County Corridor Trail in Bayfield County on Jan. 8 before crashing into the animals and then driving off, Redington said in a Facebook post.
Redington filed a report with the Bayfield County Sheriff’s Office.
As a result of the crash, Redington said two dogs were hit. One dog positioned at the front of the sled had its back legs broken in three spots.
“The snowmobile driver just stopped at Skerbeck Road and was going down the trail on the right side, and then he increased speeds and went left away from the right side of the trail to near the edge of the trail where my team was at and hit my team,” he wrote on Facebook.
Wildfire, one of the dogs, went flying in the air, the Superior Telegram reported. This dog had surgery for its injuries on Tuesday, Jan. 11, WDIO-DT reported.
The dog was able to keep its legs.
“There was an option to amputate or to put the pins in, and it was more expensive to do the pins, but I want to do right by my dogs to try to have him be where he could have all his legs and be -- if he can’t run again, at least he’ll be OK, have all his legs,” Redington told WDIO-DT.
Redington, of Knik, Alaska, won the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in 2018 and 2020, the Superior Telegram reported.
The Beargrease race starts on Jan. 30. Redington said he will still be able to participate in it without Wildfire and Willy (the other injured dog.)
“These guys are super athletes, but they’re my family,” Redington told the outlet. “I spend every day with them and it’s heartbreaking to see what they’ve had to go through. It’s very, very sad and it shouldn’t happen.”
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Bayfield County Sheriff’s Office at 715-373-6120.
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 6:50 PM.
