Sled Dog Day

Sled Dog Day is February 2nd

Sled dogs have been an important part of life in arctic areas for thousands of years. They gave people a way to travel quickly through snowy landscapes before motor vehicles were available. Most people are familiar with the most famous sled dog, an Alaskan malamute named Balto, who led a team through 53 miles of tundra conditions to bring an anti-toxin for diphtheria to Nome, Alaska. Balto and his team completed that journey on February 2, 1925, bringing the anti-toxins to hundreds of infected children. What most people don't know is that Balto and his team completed only the last leg of that journey, the entire journey to deliver the medicine was 674 miles that was traveled by sled dogs in under 20 hours. Balto was honored later that year with a statue in Central Park that remains there to this day.