Bronze Sculpture of Balto in Central Park

One of the most photographed statues in Central Park is that of Balto, the real-life Siberian husky who braved severe Arctic weather to deliver antitoxin that saved the lives of children in Nome, Alaska, in a 1925 diphtheria outbreak. Balto actually later visited New York and saw his statue dedicated. The statue was desigend by Frederick G.R. Roth, a well known animal sculptor. A low-relief plaque bears the words “Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxins 660 miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the winter of 1925.”

A 1995 animated movie was based on the heroic exploits of Balto. The Balto sculpture made an appearance in the 1993 movie "Six Degrees of Separation." When a young man (played by Will Smith) shows up at the apartment of a wealthy Upper East Side couple claiming to have been mugged, he said it happened while he was trying to figure out "why there was a statue of a dog who saved lives in the Yukon in the middle of Central Park." The statue is located at East Drive at 67th Street.