Canine equator

The dog equator in Greenland is the traditional border between the areas in which only endemic sled dog breeds ( Greenland dog or polar spitz ) are permitted and those in which only other domestic dogs are allowed.

In West Greenland this border runs along the Arctic Circle (roughly corresponding to the former municipal boundary between Sisimiut in the north and Maniitsoq in the south). In East Greenland, however, sled dog ownership is permitted everywhere.

It is a border passed down by the Greenland Inuit that must not be crossed so that the northern races do not mix with the less robust southern populations. Another reason for the establishment of this border may have been to protect sheep farming . Furthermore, the sea to the south of the dog equator is rarely frozen over, so sled dogs are not needed either.

In the north and east, despite the competition from modern snowmobiles , the sled dog is still an indispensable means of transport that can also be used at low temperatures and does not depend on fuel. Sled dogs are not counted as domestic dogs in Greenland, but are regarded as farm animals . The keeping conditions differ accordingly: Sled dogs are largely left to their own devices, at least in summer, often on small islands, and only occasionally provided with food. The owners hardly have an emotional bond with them. The skins of dead dogs are used as well as their meat.

literature

• Udo Bernhart (photos), Albert Gerdes, Thomas Jeier, Hans J. Kürtz; Birgit Kneipp (Ed.): Eisland. Arctic Greenland Alaska. Sconto [at Bucher], Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3-86517-056-9 .