*Historical* Sir Ernest Shackleton is famous for being the captain of Endurance, the ship that took him and his crew on a doomed voyage to Antarctica in 1914. Their exploits have been covered in numerous films and tv programs.

To pull the expedition through treacherous snow, dogs such as Samson pictured above, were needed. So in 1914, 100 huskies were bought over from Canada and housed at Battersea Dogs Home in Hackbridge, then in Surrey.

They were here for 6 months and it helped raise awareness of Battersea Dogs Home and Spratt’s dog biscuits, the company who later owned the site.

Hackbridge at this time was the largest animal quarantine in the world, and rabies was still a big risk, so the government stated: “six months’ quarantine required by the Importation of Dogs Order, 1914”.

There is a plaque on the ground outside Sainsbury’s that states “In 1914 the Hackbridge Kennels housed one hundred of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s sledge dogs ahead of his second Antarctic expedition”.

As far as we know at the time of writing, this plaque was moved from its original position. A husky is a generic term for primarily sled dogs – the breeds included for example, collies and mastiffs.

One of the workers at Hackbridge, George Wyndoe, got on so famously with the dogs that he was asked by Shackleton to escort him to the start of the expedition in Argentina.

The Antarctic expedition crew was made up of 27 men, and included First Officer Lionel Greenstreet, who was described as “splendid, never losing hope and always ready to crack some appalling sailor-joke”. He lived in Sutton and married at nearby Christ Church.

Greenstreet survived the expedition, but sadly the same could not be said for the dogs. The ship was stuck in snow and food supplies were barely enough to feed the crew.  The difficult decision was made to shoot the dogs. Shackleton later remarked “it was the worst job that we had had throughout the Expedition, and we felt their loss keenly”.

Credits etc. Picture at top of the page is Samson in his dogloo in 1915 (rights released). Some reports say there were 99 dogs  at Hackbridge as one died in transit from Canada. It’s also suggested only 69 dogs went on the expedition. Shackleton visited Antarctica four times. In October 2024, BFI and National Geographic released a new film exploring the enigma of the expedition. More on Officer Greenstreet. Additional research here. Rabies quarantine details link. Wallington Facebook Group. Film of kennels in 1958. Rabies in the UK was wiped out by 1922.

Read more about the location of the Kennels

Old railings are all that remain of Battersea Dogs Home in Hackbridge