Fairbanks mushers are banding together to make sure dozens of sled dogs threatened by the Galena flood are safe and dry after high water swept through the Yukon River community last week.
From recreational mushers to champions such as Aliy Zirkle and Dave Monson, Interior Alaska mushers are informally coming together so no dog goes homeless.
It's the least many of them can to do, giving back to an Iditarod checkpoint that's given them so much.
"This is an insignificant 'thank you' to a place that's had a significant impact in our lives," Monson said from his Fairbanks home Wednesday.
Monson, a Yukon Quest champion and widower of four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher, has taken in a dozen dogs. Zirkle, a Quest champ and two-time Iditarod runner-up, has 16 dogs staying at the Two Rivers kennel she and musher husband Allen Moore operate.
Shelley Ostlund has been helping coordinate the dogs with homes. She said so far 58 dogs and five cats have been placed with families in the Fairbanks area.
But as communication to soggy Galena improves, Ostlund said she's hearing about more and more animals needing places to stay.
Dogs let loose by mushers during the worst of the flood are now being recovered. One Galena musher is keeping a team of dogs in the second story of his house. Ostlund wasn't sure how many more dogs were expected to need homes Wednesday afternoon, but she estimated it was at least two more dog teams -- or about 20 dogs.
"We just want to make sure animals are taken care of," she said. "We're doing the best we can right now."
Finding safety
The road to dry ground for many of the dogs has not been easy.
On Saturday, two days before flood waters rose rapidly and washed over the Interior village, long-time Galena resident Gilbert Huntington heard rumbling in the Yukon River, a low, deep sound.
"You could tell there were just tons and tons of ice flowing underneath the sheets of ice covering the whole river," he said.
He's heard that sound before. Galena was hit by major flooding in the 1960s, and Huntington remembers the same rumbling preceding rising water.
So he gathered some belongings and prepared for possible disaster as a giant ice jam moved down the Yukon. Ice would eventually get stuck on an "S" curve in the river notorious for causing dams of ice, forcing water to crest the riverbanks.
Flooding hit Galena fast on Monday, and Huntington had to move fast to secure his 11 sled dogs. The dogs were at home, in sight of the town's old army base, now the Galena Interior Learning Academy, where Huntington was helping to build dike walls.
"I was actually standing in the water, trying to get people organized," when a man stopped him and said, "Hey, your dogs are underwater," Huntington said from Galena Wednesday.
He ran home, secured his dogs in a small river boat, and went back to the Learning Academy to finish building up the dike.
Afterwards, Huntington returned to his dogs, now floating in the boat under a hot sun, and moved them to higher ground. He took them to the "million-gallon hill," a large mound of earth and gravel about 10 feet higher than the rest of the dike surrounding the academy, which was originally built to house fuel tanks.
He secured his dogs on a chain link fence that surrounds the hill. Then they played the waiting game as flood waters rolled into town.
The dogs stayed chained up until Friday, two days after the water levels receded. A day or so later, an "old-timer friend" in Koyukuk offered to take care of the dogs for a couple of weeks, carrying the dogs downriver via boat.
Huntington wasn't the only musher who found himself dealing with a boat full of dogs. Galena resident Jon Korta, an Iditarod veteran, spent two days with 12 of his dogs, wife and son in a boat as he waited for the waters to recede.
Healthy dogs
Monson, who is housing Korta's dogs, said you'd never know they spent two days in a boat. They were all happy and some were even a little fat.
Zirkle said a few of the dogs she's boarding were a little skinny and dehydrated, but she wasn't surprised, given the circumstances.
"So was every guy out there, too," she said.
But even a little thin, Zirkle said the dogs were happy and ready for a dry spot to call their own. With two or three dogs in each crate, Zirkle said, "You could tell they were in hurry loading them."
Paula Ciniero, a nurse and musher helping to connect dogs with places to stay, said veterinarians had donated their time to help with the few dogs with minor medical issues. A vet with the Alaska Rural Veterinary Outreach organization is donating time to spay and neuter any Galena dogs while they stay in town.
"Everyone is giving well beyond, a lot of people are working beyond work hours to do a lot of this," Ciniero said. "It's pretty awesome."
Huntington said only a few dogs have died in the floods -- some who became tangled and four or five older house pets that couldn't deal with the stress.
Moving forward
Huntington sent his dogs down river for "a couple of weeks," but it may end up much longer.
Huntington's home is in shambles. A massive chunk of ice is lodged in his garage. He has no electricity, no tools and little money to take care of 11 dogs.
Other mushers are trying to help Huntington and others mushers cope. Tribal leaders have asked residents to not return home until next week at the earliest. From there, they will face an uphill battle rebuilding their homes – and dog homes. With more dogs coming in, Ostlund said they're still looking for help and donations, especially for the long term.
If you live in the Fairbanks area and are available to board dogs or families with pets, Ostlund said to reach out to her via the Yukon River Flood Relief Facebook page. Cold Spot Feeds is accepting donations for dog food. Owner Connie Dubay said in three days they've received $700 in donations for dog food to be sent out to the village.
To donate to the fund, contact Cold Spot Feeds at (907) 457-8555 or toll free in Alaska at (800) 478-7768.
Reporter Laurel Andrews contributed to this report. Contact Suzanna Caldwell at suzanna(at)alaskadispatch.com