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Balto (c. 1922 – 14 March 1933) was a Siberian Husky sled dog (although some sources incorrectly state that he is an Alaskan Malamute) who led his team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome, in which diphtheria antitoxin was transported from Anchorage to Nenana, by train, and than to Nome by dog sled to combat an outbreak of the disease. The run is commemorated by the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Balto was named after the Sámi explorer Samuel Balto.
Aftermath
After the mission's success, Balto and Kaasen became celebrities. A statue of Balto, sculpted by Frederick Roth, was erected in New York City's Central Park on December 17, 1925, just 10 months after Balto's arrival in Nome. Balto himself was present for the monument's unveiling. [3] The statue is located on the main path leading north from the Tisch Children's Zoo. [4] In front of the statue a low-relief slate plaque depicts Balto's sled team, and bears the following inscription:
“ Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the Winter of 1925.
Endurance · Fidelity · Intelligence[4] ”
On December 22, 1995, Universal Pictures released the animated film Balto. The film was based on the events of the 1925 Serum Run.
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