# Talk:Balto

Balto's birth year is listed here as 1922.  However, the placard placed next to him at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History says BALTO - SIBERIAN HUSKY - 1919-1933.Robert K S 00:44, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, I'm not sure, but the 1922 year used here is consistant with this and this listed as references here stating that Balto died in 1933 at the age of 11. Those references can be wrong, of course, but I suggest we trust them for now unless someone knows anything more definite. Shanes 00:58, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
Those links are bad. Fortunecity was a personal website anyway, hardly a reference piece.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.6.90.47 (talk) 16:30, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
I'm surely no expert on this subject, but I notice that nowhere in the article does it clearly state what breed of dog Balto was.  I presume he was a Siberian Husky from the user's note seen above, and the article has a link for "husky," but that leads to a disambiguination page that includes a number of dog breeds that use that name.  Forgive me if I'm being obtuse, but perhaps this article would be improved by clarifying this? --Lvthn13 02:01, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

The only book I have on it (The race to Nome, Kenneth Ungermann, 1963) just says Balto was a husky ("Shaggy-coated husky"), with no clear statement on what kind of husky he was as I can see (just skimmed through a few chapters to check). Togo is stated as being a Siberian Husky, though, and I would assume Balto was one, too. But as I'm also no expert on this, I am reluctant to just put it in the article without any source for it. Maybe I'll find it somewhere some time, or maybe anyone else know? Shanes 02:33, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
Husky was (maybe is) often used as a general term for Arctic dogs. A source I have states that Togo was a Siberian Husky owned by Leonhard Seppala, and that Balto was a Malamute used by Kassen in one of the teams of Seppala's freighting company. Since I have this source, I'm going to update the article accordingly.≈Krasniyt/c 23:04, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
Actually, according to The Cruelest Miles: The heroic story of dogs and men in a race against an Epidemic by Gay and Laney Salisbury, Balto was a Siberian Husky.  The book specifically deals with the 1925 Serum Run, unlike the source you provided.--Coaster1983 01:30, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
its Leonard Seppala not Leonhard Seppala 184.97.67.94 (talk) 01:09, 6 March 2023 (UTC)
Actually, the source I provided does specifically deal with the Serum Run, as it is an important part of the Malamute breed history. :) ≈Krasniyt/c 20:54, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
This editing of Balto's breed is going nowhere fast.  Obviously, there is some dispute over his breed due to all the misinformation that has been published over last 85 years.  I have seen books that said he was half-wolf/half-Eskimo Dog, Alaskan Malamute, and Alaskan Husky.  In the 1995 animated film, Balto, he was portrayed as a wolf-Siberian Husky hybrid.  The Internet has only magnified the misinformation. I am afraid the source that Kransniy provided is incorrect, as is the page on Balto on the Central Park website.
Balto could not have been a Malamute because Leonard Seppala did not breed Malamutes in the 1910s and '20s.  He only bred Siberian Huskies.--Coaster1983 21:21, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Balto was not Seppala's dog. He was Kassen's dog. I will edit it to say that some sources one thing, others say the other. I would not say that my source is absolutely incorrect however,≈Krasniyt/c 20:54, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
I agree with your edit since I cannot fully prove that Balto is a Siberian Husky, although I am certain that he is.  Balto and all the other dogs on Kassen's relay team were owned and bred by Seppala.  Kassen was a dog driver that worked for the same mining company as Seppala.  The mining company used Seppala's dogs.
--Coaster1983 01:49, 1 March 2007 (UTC).  --Coaster1983 01:49, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

To belatedly footnote this; as stated elsewhere one of Seppala's dogs from the serum run, Yukon Jad, was actually the founder of the Kotzebue Malamutes... Harami2000 (talk) 23:50, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

The Anchorage, AK article says that the statue is mistaken for Balto, but is in fact just a statue of an anonymous sleddog. If that is the case, this article and the name of the image need to change. Kovu401 00:45, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

It appears that an anonymous user edited both the Anchorage, Alaska and commons:Image:Statue_of_Balto_in_Anchorage.jpg pages on 31 July 2006 with the new information.  That person did not explain the edits to both of those pages but I assume those edits were made in good faith.  The original person whom uploaded the image thought it was Balto and so did I.  Now that doubt has been raised about the identity of the sled dog, I am going to find out whom the statue is of, if any.
If the statue is of another known sled dog or an anonymous sled dog, then the image will be removed in this article and have the captions edited in the four other articles that the image is displayed on. --Coaster1983 03:35, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
The 1925_serum_run_to_Nome article also says the statue is not Balto but is mistaken for him. Any information on this, proving or disproving it one way or another? I have been wondering. In anycase the images should be edited to at least show consensus between the various articles, even if its to say it's 'commonly been attributed as being Balto' or something. -- Dee 11:22, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
I see no citation anywhere either way, so something like "sometimes said to be" would perhaps be appropriate.  Jim.henderson 03:57, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
I finally got around to researching the statue.  I found a September 27, 1991 article in the Anchorage Daily News, titled "Somethings sort of wild" by Andrew Perala, that states that the statue is a generic sled dog.  The following is an excerpt from that article:

--Coaster1983 16:31, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
Thank you.  So, the statue is not about the diphtheria run or any particular dog; it's about the race.  This would suggest that the picture doesn't belong in this article, but in the article about the annual race, along with the explanatory newspaper quote.  Jim.henderson 12:32, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm going to be bold and remove this section altogether, since the information is about the character in Balto (film) and not the real dog, and anyone who wants to know about the fictional dog can go to the article about the movie. I'm moving the section here in case there's something worth salvaging to the movie article. - ∅ (∅), 23:02, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Well done. I agree. Shanes 23:12, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
Why is there no mention at all of the movie? There should be some mention of the film, which wouldn't exist if Balto were never famous. Cernansky (talk) 22:16, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

It's confirmed that it was Togo who really did the majority of the race, Balto only about 1/3 of the distance Togo did, right? Shouldn't this be mentioned? I mean, I read this article and didn't even notice Togo's link the first time around. I know it's supposed to be about Balto, but I think it should be mentioned that it was really Togo who did the most of it, shouldn't it? I mean, this article is very misleading, from my point of view, it glorifies Balto a bit too much and pushes Togo into the shadows even more. Balto's a good dog, and certainly a hero, like all the dogs who ran, but not THE hero... Just a thought.DameGreyWulf

DameGreyWolf,you make a good point.  I will be adding Seppala's criticisms of the way the mass media glorified Balto.  Seppala once called him a "newspaper dog" because the newspapers of the day got their facts wrong and assigned Togo's accomplishments to Balto.
Anon. IP user, you are entitled to your opinion, but please be Civil and please do not sign your posts  with fake user names.  Also, please do not make nonconstructive edits to other users posts.Coaster1983 03:23, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
Can any of these recent anonymous edits be supported in any printed text?--Wetman (talk) 07:23, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

It seems confusing, I would edit it, but I'm not entirely sure what it's trying to describe...is it some relation to taxidermy?! Or is it the bronze that was created they wanted returning?..PA  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.129.7.109 (talk) 15:00, 4 April 2008 (UTC) 

I, too, found this mention confusing.  A quick Google of '"Bring Balto Home"' only resulted in two hits, but one stated that this campaign referred to the dog's stuffed remains.  Another search of the words 'Balto taxidermy' resulted in a few more hits, so I'm thinking this is accurate info.  — Indi [ talk ] 13:55, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

www.centralpark.com is one of several websites dedicated to Central Park. Someone is passing from page to page, carefully deleting this link. Rather than get involved in some rixe over this, I'm leaving it deleted. Before someone was inclined to delete it, without a word to anyone, as "spam", it should have been carefully looked at. --Wetman (talk) 18:46, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Over the last two months, an editor has changed Balto's breed from a Siberian Husky to an Alaskan Husky. This editor has yet to provide a verifiable source that states that he was an Alaskan Husky.  I have changed the breed back to Siberian Husky and will continue to do so if a verifiable source is not provided. --Coaster1983 (talk) 19:23, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I am not going to change it at all, cause it is not my area of expertise,but this is where it says that Balto was an Alaskan Husky
http://www.centralpark.com/pages/attractions/balto.html
It is in the first sentence that Balto was an Alaskan Husky
A 1995 animated movie was based on the heroic exploits of Balto, an Alaskan Malmute, who braved fierce Artic weather to deliver a badly needed antitoxin to save a community from a diptheria epidemic.
There it is for those who wondered about where it says.
--Kopicz (talk) 21:55, 16 March 2009 (UTC)
Well, I don't get it. Egen if it's true that "This editor has yet to provide a verifiable source that states that he was an Alaskan Husky", i don't see the verifiable source that states he was a Siberian Husky. Is that true because it was stated earlier on Wiki, for a sort of time pimacy? Moreover, if you look at the pictures of his remains in Cleveland, even if it states "Siberian Husky", it is clear for everybody with a little knowledge of dogs' breeds that he was definitely not a Siberian Husky, being almost certainly of mixed breed. 82.58.161.6 (talk) 10:14, 14 May 2009 (UTC)
I'm also curious to his breed. Maybe he's mixed? He doesn't look like a Husky. An AKC article from 2004 calls him a Malamute though: A famous Malamute named “Balto” lead a team that saved residents of the Alaskan city of Nome from diptheria in the great Serum Run of 1925 Willowforth (talk) 09:08, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

Much of this 1938 Alfred Hitchcock movie takes place on a European train whose dining car has several advertisements posted for "BALTO".  I have not been able to make out what the signs refer to.  The only Google hit that I get that mentions the advertisement in connection with the movie describes a drinking game--take a drink every time "BALTO" appears on the screen--not very informative.  Does anyone know whether the movie is referring to the dog in some way?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.113.85.76 (talk) 18:13, 12 July 2015 (UTC) 

See advertisement for "Les Cigarettes Balto" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma057oOICRY  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.209.129.8 (talk) 00:51, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

Balto's remains are pictured at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  Who is the woman in the photo?

Over the past couple of months, several different anonymous editors have changed Balto's owner's name back to Gunnar Kaasen, removed information regarding his ownership by Leonhard Seppala, or added false information to make the claim that he was owned by Kaasen. Balto was bred and owned by Leonhard Seppala, Kaasen drove a team of Seppala's dogs for the Serum Run which is why he drove Balto's team. If more sources are needed to back this up on the article side or here to compile them, I'm happy to provide them, but suffice it to say nearly every historical source can confirm that Seppala was Balto's owner during the Serum Run, not Kaasen. He was sold to the production company after their tour of the "Lower 48" and from there sold to the "freak show" exhibit. Kaasen never owned him. Mcfuggins (talk) 23:02, 20 November 2020 (UTC)

Upon redoing the article, I discovered that there exists no clear explanation for what happened directly after the Central Park statue unveiling. The claim that Seppala sold the dogs to Sam Houston (the traveling circus operator) out of spite towards Kaasen is at least plausible, because 1) Kaasen did return to Alaska shortly thereafter and 2) Kaasen and Seppala never spoke to each other for the rest of their lives. Houston claimed to an Associated Press reporter in early March 1927 that Kaasen sold him the dogs after his contract dispute with Sol Lesser was resolved, but that makes no sense as Kaasen never owned Balto or the team in the first place. Seppala claimed in his memoir that he sold the dogs to Lesser; while it is true Lesser sold the film contract to a vaudeville circuit, it still does not account for how Houston got ownership of them.
My supposition is that no one wanted to take responsibility for Balto being sold to Houston. Certainly Seppala didn't. Nathan Obral • he/him • t • c • 15:40, 14 September 2024 (UTC)
A popular Youtuber has recently released a video,"The Movie Disney Deleted - Togo", on May 14, 2025 where he incorrectly claims that this article claimed that Balto was Seppala's lead dog. He also claimed that Seppala sold Balto while in Alaska without any sources to back it up. He directed his viewers to fix the article to reflect his claim and they already have done so. I have removed the claim, but they probably will try to bring it back. Coaster1983 (talk) 02:46, 16 May 2025 (UTC)