Believing that doping in sport is fundamentally contrary to the spirit of sport, IFSS signed on to comply with the World Anti-Doping Code in 2003 and was required to establish and implement Anti-Doping Rules and Procedures for its athletes, both canine and human. These were developed by the IFSS Anti-Doping Committee under the auspices of Carin Ahlstedt and Michelle Menger. Their documents were approved by IFSS at its October, 2008, General Assembly in Vancouver (British Columbia) Canada. Subsequently, the IFSS Rules were approved by WADA in November, 2008, and first implemented at the IFSS 2009 Winter World Championships in Daaquam (Quebec) Canada. Although canine drug testing had been applied for several years at IFSS events, and, indeed, in the past IFSS had promulgated its own set of guidelines for canine doping control, humans had never been tested in an IFSS World Championship.

The Anti-Doping Code as developed by WADA contains many provisions, including testing procedures, therapeutic use exemption procedures, due process, sanctions, and prohibited substances for humans and – in some ways – canines. (Because anti-doping rules for animals must also take the animal welfare aspects into consideration, WADA leaves all work with special rules for animals used by athletes in sport to the actual International Sports Federation – in this instance IFSS. However, WADA reviews these rules and agrees to them if they follow the WADA pattern.) The Rules also provide for out-of-competition testing on humans and dogs.

The development of a strong code to protect athletes’ fundamental right to a clean sport, catch cheaters, and to promote health, fairness, and equality for athletes worldwide began with the First Conference on Doping in Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1999. This led to the creation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) with Richard W. Pound of Canada as president. In Copenhagen, Denmark, in March of 2003, WADA approved the Anti-Doping Code with fifty-one governments also signing on. Another twenty-seven governments promised to sign the document at a later date.

This was a remarkable achievement that united and harmonized the disparate efforts of both the sports movement and governments in the fight to combat the destructive powers of doping to the values of sport and the health and well being of athletes. The Anti-Doping Code was first fully implemented in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Since then it has been tweaked and is annually reviewed and updated.

IFSS Vice President Bernard Pépin and Carin Ahlstedt, a retired pharmacist, attended the Anti-Doping Symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland, March, 2007, and Ahlstedt attended the Third World Conference on Doping in Sport in Madrid, Spain, November, 2007, coming away with resolve and determination to apply the Code and principles to sled dog sports. Although IFSS had already signed on to the spirit of the Code, it had not developed its anti-doping program to fully comply with it. Through the efforts of Ahlstedt and Menger, IFSS is now in compliance and carries out doping control at its competitive events.