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

Abstract

ABSTRACT. 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.

Museumsaktivisme for hestevelferd

“…Det er stor avstand i perspektiver på hva som er bra og hva som er mindre bra, og direkte skadelig hestehåndtering i dag. Og det er ulike meninger om Scotts bruk av hester på sydpolekspedisjonen (Murray 2008) og OL-kandidaters bruk av hester i femkamp, og andre sportsgrener (Taylor 2022). Poenget med å sette sammen disse ulike perspektivene på hvordan bruke hester, er dels å vise at de er der, at det er mange ulike måter og meninger.…”

“…Scott var opptatt av at dyr ikke skulle lide. Både egne og andres polarerfaringer med hunder tilsa at hunder måtte piskes for å få framdrift(Murray 2008). Scott belaget seg på at hester skulle utgjøre den viktigste trekk-krafta mot Sydpolen.…”

Knowledge, innovation and the race to the South Pole

“…Nansen's use of dogs haulage and using dogs to feed other dogs reduced the amount of food required for expeditions (Nansen, 1897, p. 87). Discussions of Amundsen and Scott's "use and abuse of dogs" are found elsewhere (Lüdecke, 2011;Murray, 2008;Tahan, 2019). Sverdrup's experience came from Nansen's Greenland Expedition (1888-1889 and as captain of two Fram expeditions (1893)(1894)(1895)(1896)(1899)(1900)(1901)(1902) (Huntford, 1997, pp.…”