Results of gross necropsy released

In a press release Friday morning, Iditarod shared the results of the gross necropsy performed on Charley a dog who expired on the trail from Mille Porsild's team. Persuant to Rule 42, Porsild was given the option to scratch in Elim. The dog was flown to Unalakleet where the necropsy was performed. With the results being unable to determine cause of death further testing needs to be done - we may not know the results of those tests for many weeks to come.

 "2026 IDITAROD MEDIA ADVISORY  

Date:   March 20, 2026 

From: Dan Carter, Race Marshal, Iditarod Trail Committee  

Unalakleet, Alaska –  Charley, a four-year-old female from the race team of Mille Porsild (bib #15), expired en route to the Elim checkpoint on March 17, 2026.  Charley was flown to Unalakleet where a necropsy was conducted by a board-certified veterinary pathologist.  The necropsy did not identify any obvious traumatic or medical abnormalities to explain Charley’s death. 

Further laboratory testing is being conducted in accordance with race protocol to support a thorough investigation and complete the necropsy, with every effort made to determine the cause of death.

 ###  

Media contact:   

Shannon Noonan Iditarod Trail Committee

 shannon.noonan@iditarod.com"