Iditarod dog dies, A dog left behind at a checkpoint along the route of the Iditarod sled-dog race in Alaska was smothered by windblown snow, in the event's first canine death since 2009, officials said on Saturday. The fatality broke a safety streak that race supporters had cited as evidence of good care for the animals at the center of the contest. The dog, a 5-year-old male named Dorado in the team of musher Paige Drobny, was found dead on Friday at Unalakleet, an Inupiat Eskimo village and race checkpoint on the Bering Sea coast. A necropsy, which is the animal equivalent of an autopsy, determined the cause of death was asphyxiation from being buried in snow in severe wind conditions, race marshal Mark Nordman said. Iditarod mushers begin the race with up to 16 dogs, but they typically leave some at checkpoints as their animals tire. Most mushers finish with a team of about 10 dogs. Dorado had been left at Unalakleet and was among a group of dogs set to be flown back to Anchor