Dogs owned by Iditarod vet, reality TV star kill family pet

Authorities in Alaska are investigating after sled dogs owned by Iditarod veteran and reality TV star Jessie Holmes killed a family pet

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A pack of sled dogs belonging to an Iditarod veteran and reality TV star killed a family pet in Alaska, officials said.

Authorities in Wasilla are investigating the March 30 incident involving dogs owned by musher Jessie Holmes, who finished third in year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and stars in “Life Below Zero: Alaska” on the National Geographic channel.

Holmes, who lives in rural Alaska, was staying with his dog team at a Wasilla hotel that backs up to the adjacent homeowner’s yard. He let the dogs loose to relieve themselves when they attacked a pet dog named Lucky, who was attached to a lead in the yard.

When Lucky’s owner, Liza McCafferty, came outside to retrieve the 8-year-old Havanese, she saw a black dog dart from under her deck. It was part of a pack that suddenly appeared in her yard, she told the Anchorage Daily News.