The dog Togo and Leonard Seppala in the Great Race of Mercy of 1925 in Alaska

The dog Togo and his master Seppala, heroes of the Great Race of Mercy of 1925. In the coldest winter Alaska had known in twenty years, an epidemic of diphtheria broke out in the remote town of Nome, and the meagre stocks of serum there had passed their expiry date. Some quite heroic men resolved to bring a supply of serum from the nearest port, Seward, 1,085 km away, in the shortest possible time and by the only means available, dog sled, in five days. Twenty mushers with 150 dogs set out to meet one another. Leonard Seppala, a breeder of Finnish-Swedish-Norwegian origin and one of the foremost dog-sled racers in America, managed to cover the most difficult and dangerous stretch, of more than 425 km, setting out from Nome and taking over the consignment of serum halfway. So the salvation of an entire town was in large measure owed to the decorated dog man Seppala and his beloved Siberian husky Togo, the team's lead dog, who was at the time 12 years old. In 2019 a film, “Togo”, was made about it, while many other screen versions of the story show the merits of the remaining participants in the run.