Missing Iditarod dog found healthy after going missing for three months

Owner overwhelmed by months-long search says ‘Life is gooooood’

Musher Sebastien Dos Santos Borges and his sled dog Leon (AP)

A sled dog who went missing in Alaska during this year’s Iditarod sled-dog race has been found safe and well almost three months later.

Leon, whose owner arrived in Anchorage from France last week to collect him, had gone missing on 12 May when his musher Sebastien Dos Santos Borges departed the Ruby checkpoint with only nine of his 11 dogs, according to the Associated Press.

Mr Santos was forced to continue his race without Leon and another sled dog and made it to the finish line on 15 May, when the 2022 annual competition was won by Brent Sass, an American musher.

The dog was more recently spotted by residents of McGrath, an Alaskan town over 120 miles south of the Ruby checkpoint, who alerted race organisers.

Food was left out for Leon by McGrath residents who told Iditarod race director Mark Nordman that they’d seen Leon frequently near a cabin, where he was captured successfully on Saturday.

Shannon Markley, a spokesperson for the annual dog race, said in a statement that Leon was safe, alert and “understandably skinny but seemingly healthy”.

Leon was scheduled to see a veterinarian and requires a health certificate before he can fly back to France, Ms Markley said.

Mr Santos, who had offered a $1,000 reward for Leon’s return, wrote in an update on Facebook at the weekend: “Leon is with me ! A great story, a beautiful story of love and friendship between all the people who helped, who thought very hard about this reunion. Thank you! Life is gooooood!”

He had written in earlier posts that he would “never stop looking” for his sled dog and had been assured by the Iditarod organisers he would be helped in his search.

The Iditarod committee said in a statement of their own on Sunday that “we express enough gratitude for all of Iditarod Nation’s help, prayers, thoughts and well wishes for Leon.”

“From the volunteers to the search fund organisers and the individual donors, community members along the trail and the heroes of McGrath who have helped towards the cause of finding Leon. Alaska is an incredibly special place as is the spirit of the community, which is part of what makes The Last Great Race so special. Thank you, Iditarod Nation, and welcome home, Leon!”

The annual Iditarod race is 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) long and takes place in Alaska.