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The use and abuse of dogs on Scott's and Amundsen's South Pole expeditions

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Version 2 2023-06-23, 11:06
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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-23, 11:06 authored by C Murray
In the century since Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott led the first and second expeditions to reach the South Pole, commentators have frequently passed judgement on the different means of transport that the two explorers employed. In hindsight, and since he ‘won,’ they have consistently praised Amundsen for using dogs exclusively and criticised Scott for not doing the same. Surprisingly, however, almost no attention has been given to the experience of Amundsen’s dogs, whose extreme suffering seems to have vanished into a collective blind spot. Here, with the aim of restoring balance to one part of the vexed historiography of the two explorers, that record is set straight. Amundsen’s troubled and contradictory attitude towards his animals is also explored and common misconceptions about Scott’s views on the use of dogs for transport are confuted.

History

Publication title

Polar Record

Volume

44

Issue

231

Article number

231

Number

231

Pagination

303-310

ISSN

0032-2474

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Cambridge Univ Press

Publication status

  • Published

Rights statement

Copyright 2008 Cambridge University Press

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

130499 Heritage not elsewhere classified

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