Huskies played a vital role in exploring the Antarctic wilderness since the beginning of the heroic age. By using dogsleds, Amundsen had a key advantage in the race to the South Pole against Scott. But dogs didn’t only just pull sleds around Antarctica, some of them even became expedition members with their fame outshining their master’s. What is less well known is what happened with the bulk of dogs on Antarctic expeditions. Amundsen, for example, set off with 52 and returned with 11… most of them were considered “food”.

With the Antarctic Treaty, the last dogs were taken from Antarctica in 1994 and replaced with Skidoos. Due to its environmental clause that required non-native species to be removed, the threat of dog-diseases spreading across native seals was gone. I heard that the last huskies at Scott Base were re-located to Colorado, where they spent the rest of their days in fluffy deep snow (without getting eaten by the guy on the sled). The day we left New Zealand for our departure, some huskies were visiting the University of Canterbury to “howl goodbye’. Uuuuhhh Uuuuuuuhhhhhhhh

A Husky at Uni