130 Dogs!!!

As someone who has been closely following the Iditarod sled dog race for over 11 years, I was surprised to learn about a whole new aspect of the Iditarod: Air Cargo.
Yes, of course I always knew about the "Iditarod air force" and how these little planes volunteer to fly dog kibble, vets, dropped dogs etc. in and out of remote airports. I just never pulled together the vast doggy numbers in my head before.
Namely: the little tid bit in the news about how one unfortunate canine met his end, while waiting for the air cargo plane to get him back to Anchorage. This happened in Unalakleet --a small town in the middle of Alaska nowhere. But big enough (say a few hundred) residents to justify Air cargo flights in and out of the town. They take the sled dogs back to Anchorage, weather permitting. Meanwhile--everyone waits--and more pups join them as they are dropped off from even more remote Alaskan towns (flown to Unalakleet to await transport). There are some awesome photos of this on Alaska stock pics. Dogs on a plane--it looks totally insane!
Alaska weather being what it is , it is often unsafe to fly. Thus the doggies accumulate and that is how you can wind up with 130 sled dogs in one tiny town! Wow!
From what I read, there were 24 volunteers on hand and numerous vets. I feel badly that they are being criticized for one dog's death (bless the poor dog's owners/mushers who seem like a class act). But if anyone can grasp how difficult it must be to keep an eye on 130 dogs, at night, in an Alaskan blizzard!!
Of course, this opens the flood gates for Iditarod criticism, 'the brutal conditions', yada yada--but that's just all crazy speak. Of course the Iditarod has too many dogs, and is freakishly long and the weather is just bananas. But that's what makes it exciting! (and in my opinion, it's exciting for the dogs too--do they really want to get diabetes and just perish on your Lazy Boy recliner?) 
Why do the critics want an over-sanitized world for dogs? (do they speak dog? )The harshest critic--sled dog action network --is based in Florida of all places!!! Has this crazy lady ever been to her neighboring southern states and seen all the dead stray dogs along the side of the road? Do those dogs have a better life experience ? Or when will the sled-dog Nazis shut down the Asian dog-burger market? Or how about helping the wolves (the canine cousin for crying out loud) still being caught in leg hold traps in Alaska--now isn't that a better cause to criticize?