Native American Tribe Assists 53 Stranded Iditarod Dogs in Washington State

By AVIANNE TAN
Mar 30, 2016, 5:44 PM ET

The 1,000 mile Iditarod race through the Alaskan snow wasn't the hardest part of the expedition for four teams and 53 dogs from Norway; the most difficult journey was getting back home.

The Norwegian teams were planning to fly from home via connecting plane trips from Anchorage to Seattle and then Seattle to Norway.

But when they arrived at the airport in Anchorage, they were told the cargo planes wouldn't fly the dogs from Alaska to Seattle, ABC affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle reported.

"The only option was renting a U-Haul, put crates inside, make some air for the dogs and drive 2,500 miles," dog handler Karl-Erik Andersen told KOMO.

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But on Tuesday morning, after being on the road for five days, the exhausted huskies and their humans finally got a helping hand from the Nisqually Indian Tribe in Olympia, Washington. Nisqually tribe employee Heidi Thomas spotted the team on the roadside and took action.

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