Ahura Werewolf wrote:
Recently I took a trip to Cleveland and visited Balto. I was surprised to find in a remote corner of the museum surrounded by various exhibits on fossils and other wild animals. The only thing detailing what made Balto special was a four to five minute video on a small TV that used stock footage of Balto arriving in Nome then his trip to New York City and Cleveland with the last minutes of the video dedicated to Togo. I was sad to see this hero placed in this spot almost as an after thought. The logic from it was that they wanted him out of the sun due to his fur fading. But the placed he was in was covered not only in natural sunlight but also he had large electric lights glaring down on him. Most of the people walking by Balto gave him only one look and they proceeded into other parts of the museum. If it wasn't for the video you wouldn't have known who Balto was or what made him a hero. All that you would know is his name and that he was a siberian husky and his date of birth and death. There was no exhibit on the Serum Run or Balto's role in it. There was nothing that detailed his life except the pathetic video displayed next to him. Balto was left in this remote corner of the museum as an afterthought. None of the visitors I saw really gave a care when it came to Balto. They were more interested in the other exhibits than this hero. I was surprised given that Balto is the museums claim to fame yet he was virtually added as I said above as an after thought. This needs to change. I recommend that a petition be created in order for Balto to be treated with the dignity of a hero and not as some mere foot note in this museum. Balto is a hero and should be treated as one. A proper portion of the museum should be created to detail the serum run and the role Balto played in it. If this isn't done this hero that we have all come to love will be more than likely be forgotten and placed into storage. A hero forgotten and left to collect dust.
I've been to cleveland to visit Balto's mount back in 2006. I too was NOT impressed with what I was seeing. He was placed in a corner where no one would even see him, and there was absolutely NOTHING there to read. They don't explain much on those videos either. The light thing was what was bothering me the most. They say he is suppose to be in a "low light exhibit." That is so not true...He is indeed on the spot light. I'm afraid to say, but Balto isn't brown. He only looks that in the pictures, but in reality the lights have done far more damage than what a camera can pick up. I'm sorry, but he is a bright orange. Sure did look that way anyway. And I'm sure over a four year period it has only worsened. It will continue to if they don't remove him from the bright light, and keep him away from windows with sunlight coming in as well. This obviously proves my hypothesis true. Balto is NEVER in the same spot, nor is there a true exhibit for that matter. All of the other exhibits are never moved, so why is Balto's moved? Can't he have his own too?
Edit: I guess my image died.
Oh well, I made a new one anyway. This is a bit more realistic.
I highly agree Balto is not being treated fairly, and that a petition or something needs to be done. Like you said, no one that I know of even looked at Balto either. They just kept on walking. The only ones who do are the ones who know about the serum run. Anyone else who might visit might just say," oh look, a dog. I wonder why he is there." I'm starting to think the Cleveland museum doesn't care about our hero. Though I must mention once a year they have a day dedicated to Balto. They have information about the serum run, pictures, etc. It shouldn't matter what day it is, it should be available all year round. You might want to check out
this topic made by Sora_Kun. It explains what I mean.
