In 1976, prompted by advice from Bishop Omer Robidoux (1913-1986), Churchill dog handler Brian Ladoon made it his mission to preserve and breed Canadian Eskimo Dogs also known as Inuit Dogs or Qimmiq, the rarest registered breed of dog in the world. His efforts have inspired both admiration and fierce criticism, largely because Ladoon’s dogs share their pitiless natural environment with itinerant wild polar bears, and his practices are seen by some to be mysterious or inhumane.
New Zealander Caleb Ross moved to Canada when he saw a job notice on a hostel wall to go to Churchill, Manitoba a tiny speck of a town in the far north of Canada, to look after 150 eskimo dogs. There he met Brian and the two have built a shared friendship and a passion for saving some of the most rarest and endangered dogs in the world from going extinct.
“These dogs have learnt to handle the most harshest climate on the planet. They are here, because they are supposed to be here. We have tried to preserve their character and their lives. How do we do that? do we keep them inside like lap dogs? No! They have got to be the toughest fuckers on the planet in their environment” – Brian Ladoon.
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