Balto(1919– March 14, 1933) was a Siberian husky sled dog who led his team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome in which antitoxin was transported from Anchorage, Alaska, to Nenana, Alaska, by train and then to Nome,_Alaska by dog sled to combat an outbreak of diptheria.The run is commemorated by the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

In January 1925, doctors realized that a potentially deadly epidemic was poised to sweep through Nome's young people. The only serum that could stop the outbreak was in Anchorage, nearly a thousand miles (1,600 km) away. The engine of the only aircraft that could quickly deliver the medicine was frozen and would not start. After considering all of the alternatives, officials decided to move the medicine by sled dog. More than 20 mushers took part, facing a blizzard with −23 °F (-31° C) temperatures and strong winds. News coverage of the event was worldwide.
On February 2, 1925, the Norwegian Gunnar Kaasen drove his team, led by Balto, into Nome. The longest and most hazardous stretch of the run was actually covered by another Norwegian, Leonhard_Seppala and his dog team, led by Togo. They came from Nome towards the end of the run and picked up the serum from musher Henry Ivanoff. The serum was later passed to Kaasen.
Balto proved himself on the Iditarod trail, saving his team in the Topkok River. Balto was also able to stay on the trail in near whiteout conditions; Kaasen stated he could barely see his hand in front of his face.
Balto's team did their leg of the run almost entirely in the dark. The final team and its sledder was asleep when Balto and Kaasen made it to the final stop, so Kaasen decided to continue on. At Nome, everybody wanted to thank Kaasen at first, but he suggested giving fame to Balto as well.
Togo was the star dog for Leonhard Seppala even before the great 1925 Serum Run. Instead of celebrating the triumph together as one huge team, many became jealous of the publicity Balto received, especially from President Calvin Coolidge and the press.
In front of the statue a low-relief slate plaque depicts Balto's sled team, and bears the following inscription: " Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards fromNenana,_Alaska" title="Nenana, Alaska to the relief of stricken Nome in the Winter of 1925."

Mr. Kimble worked together with the newspaper, The Plain Dealer to bring Balto and his team toCleveland, Ohio. On March 19, 1927, Balto and six companions were brought to Cleveland and given a hero's welcome in a triumphant parade. The dogs were then taken to the Brookside Zoo (now the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo").

After Balto's death in 1933, his remains were mounted by a taxidermist, and donated to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

In 1998 the Alaska Legislature passed HJR 62- 'Bring Back Balto' resolution. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History declined to return Balto; however, in October 1998, Balto left for a five-month stay at theAnchorage Museum of History and Art> which drew record crowds.>