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Oden Antarctic Expedition 08

Hi Jeff, Barney Peterson of Everett, WA, here. We are wondering if the sled dogs that were taken to Antarctica were there so long ago that they were not required to have the kinds of vaccinations that dogs are today, or are sled dogs a special case. I have a student who came to the US from Australia and the family brought their pets, but there were strict health and quarentine rules for them. This caused the students to wonder how animals not immunized had been allowed to travel internationally.

Sun, 12/21/2008 - 12:47

Jeff Peneston

Barney,
I think you are right.  Sometimes people learn from their mistakes.  Today you can’t bring any dogs to Antarctica and it is very difficult to go in and out of foreign countries with any animals.   However, if you read the accounts of the historic voyages of Scott, Amundsen and Shackelton a century ago, it is clear that they were bringing dogs and horses from Europe and Canada down to Antarctica and some of them where bringing diseases with them.  We know because they recorded losses of dogs to disease.  Another problem is that there is basically no government or police in Antarctica.  Modern treaties pose strict rules on what you can and cannot do but since no country actually owns the continent or its millions of square miles of ocean, enforcement is not consistent.  On top of that, some countries have not signed the treaties and that allows them to do a broad range of things.  Most controversial is the harvest of whales and krill for markets in Asia and the growing number of tourists.  
BTW, I have friends who live in Everett.  They direct Camp Fire USA Camp Killoqua.  I had a chance to visit the camp a few years ago at this time of year and I thought the whole area was beautiful.  
Thanks for the great question.  Remember to keep reading my journals over the break.  There are new videos coming!
Take care, and have fun,
Jeff