Among the world’s most at-risk dog breeds is the Greenland dog..

This large husky-type breed used for sledding and hunting is dying, and that’s not an exaggeration. Over the past two decades, the breed population has decreased by more than half.  The reasons are complex.

Early on, snowmobiles out-competed the dogs;

Then within a generation, Inuits relocated from small coastal towns to larger cities; they shifted from living in huts and subsisting on hunting/fishing with the help of their dogs, to living in concrete or pre-fab buildings with central heating and a modern market around the corner. Many of the dogs that helped them survive for years were abandoned.

Greenland’s high unemployment rate meant a lack of money to buy dog food that had increased in price because industrial fish waste once used as dog food was now exported for human consumption. Dog owners had to buy more expensive food from shops, plus had no way to transport the food on a daily basis to the dogs living in the outer limits of town;  This was even if shops had dog food in stock, something that has been regularly lacking in the stores of remote communities during the winter months.

This was coupled with a government mandate that separated the dogs from areas populated by people for reasons of “public safety.”  At this point, it becomes difficult to know what to believe.

We found one source that had a dire report; Dogs are chained during summer months without enough access to food and water. The chains get tangled together, and the dogs suffer. Sick dogs are usually shot because of a lack of veterinary care. There’s little comfort in the fact that we found only one such report.

On a cheerier note, many in dog world community have taken note. Scientists lead by Professor Morten Meldgaard from the Natural History Museum of Denmark helped produce twenty-two new recommendations to preserve and develop the Greenland Dog culture in Greenland and the wider Arctic. The suggestions are divided into international, national, and local levels, and focus on obtaining and maintaining knowledge and communicating awareness of the unique Greenlandic sled dog culture.

We hope it will be enough, soon enough, to help this completely unique breed that is also one of the oldest breeds of the dogs in the world.

Image Photo credit: Greenland Travel East Greenland via photopin (license)