BYRD’S HUSKIES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18520, 18 March 1930, Page 6

BYRD’S HUSKIES

RETURN TO HERMITAGE OPPOSED. MACKENZIE RUNHOLDERS RESENTFUL. A meeting of runholders owning sheep stations in the Mackenzie Country was held at Tekapo on Saturday, at the conclusion of the annual sheep fair, to discuss the position that has arisen with respect to the suggested domiciling of a number of the returned Byrd Expedition huskies at the Hermitage, Mount Cook.

Mr T. D. Burnett, M.P., was in the chair. He traced the history of the temporary stay of the teams from Quail Island at the Hermitage, for training purposes, last winter, before their departure on the relief ship. He said it was expressly stipulated that none of the dogs were to be left at Mount Cook, or returned to the Dominion, after going south, and it had been definitely stated that men’s lives might be lost if the teams reached the Antarctic in an untrained condition. Slieepowners in the district had therefore withdrawn the objections made to the stay of these teams, but only on the understanding that the conditions drawn up by Mr Irmes Taylor, and imposed by the Government, were adhered to. The undertaking given then had not been honoured, as not only was it now proposed to send a large number of returned dogs back to the Hermitage, but it was also known that nine of the young dogs bred at Quail Island had been kept at the Hermitage, and were still there. The Hon. G. W. Forbes had wired the executive of the New Zealand Sheepowners’ Federation, in reply to an inquiry, that permission had been given by the Government, subject to the conditions previously imposed, and that every precaution would be taken.

In view of the statements made as to the need for these dogs to be trained in order possibly to save human lives, on their arrival south, and the guarantees given personally by Mr Irmes Taylor, and others interested, that every dog would either be taken out of the Dominion or destroyed on the departure of the relief ship—which undertaking it was now evident was not intended to be kept—it was unanimously resolved by those present at the meeting to make every effort possible to prevent the dogs being sent to, or kept at, the Hermitage. The need for immediate action was stressed by several speakers, it being stated that deep resentment was felt, and was being freely expressed by sheepowners in the district, at the failure of the Expeditionary authorities to honour the agreement made, and the evident intention to ignore the opinion expressed and representations previously made. The permission given by the Government had come as a bombshell to runholders in the district. One speaker gave an instance of the savage and destructive nature of this breed of dogs, and Mr Hunter-Weston stated that he could fully support this from his own experience in the Yukon and other parts of Alaska. He strongly urged those present to use every endeavour to prevent the breed from being established in the Dominion, as the dogs were unnecessary, and a potential menace to the flocks of the Dominion, especially in the high country.

Messrs H. and V. Le Cren, Roland Guinness, George Murray, and several others, spoke strongly against the breach of faith with the district, and fully supported the following resolution, which was moved by Mr Charles Parker, seconded by Mr Norman Hope, and carried unanimously:—“That this meeting of Mackenzie Country runholders objects most strongly to the domiciling of the Byrd Expeditionary dogs at the Hermitage, and urges that, as the dogs are not now required by the present Byrd Expedition, they be at once either destroyed or taken back to America: also that the Sheepowners’ Federation executive be asked to take up the matter with the Government, on behalf of sheepowners, with a view to preventing this breed of dogs from being established in any part of New Zealand.”