On December 20th during the blizzard I stayed at the house as I had some work to do there. Mr. Mesik told Martin Kilian to overhaul the harness but Martin told him that he was working on the trail and didn’t have to work in the house, and he wouldn’t do it. Shot a dog this morning that had the epidemic.
December 24th, 1917
No more visitors have shown up yet. I think that our gathering will be small. We have another dog sick. I think that he has the disease one of Lemvin’s dogs. Making dog feed today.
December 28th, 1917
No sleds from the east yet. They sure are in a hurry to get the things ready for the Ice trip, most everything is at a standstill waiting for the material. Our sick dog died last night, I thought the pills worked alright but I see that I was mistaken. I might have known.
John Hadley
Captain of the Polar Bear
Library and Archives Canada/Mikan 97784
Throughout the literature of Arctic exploration and enterprize there are many records of sled dogs dying from unknown and “mysterious” illnesses. Among the identified culprits are rabies and distemper.
Sick and dying dogs created difficulty for several aspects of the Expedition, and probably played a role in the winter deaths of Peter Bernard and Charlie Thomsen.
In the 1950s and 1960s many Arctic dogs were shot in camps and settlements across the Arctic, some by members of the RCMP in an attempt to prevent the transmission of disease. A recent film, Qimmit: a clash of two truths, tells a balanced story of what has become known as “the dog slaughter.” I saw the film recently at an Ottawa screening with a audience of many northern people. The film does an excellent job of showing the emotions and facts from both sides of this unfortunate controversy.
David
