Welcome To Summit Farms Rescue

Summit Farms is recognized for rescuing Alaskan dog breeds such as Malamutes, Samoyeds, and Huskies. Our mission is to adopt and save as many dogs as we can. We believe in helping the helpless and reducing the number of homeless dogs while improving the welfare of all domestic animals. Additionally, we seek to educate our community on the plight of these animals.

image of farm founders

Brad and Janet Harker founded Summit Farms Rescue in 2004. We work to foster Respect, Understanding and Compassion for all creatures, and the belief that all life is valuable and worthy of protection.

Since the founding of Summit Farms, we have adopted more than 2,620 dogs and counting.

We are grateful for the continued support of our donners. We are overjoyed to have so many huskies have new forever homes with caring families. Should you have any questions, please feel free to visit our contact us page.

dogs pulling sled

Famous Sled Dogs

Perhaps the most famous sled dog of all was Balto, a jet black Siberian Husky, who was the lead dog of the sled dog team that carried diphtheria serum on the last leg of the relay to Nome during the 1925 diphtheria epidemic. There was serum in Nenana, but the town was 700 miles away, and inaccessible except by dog sled. A relay was set up, and 20 teams pulled together. Six days later the lifesaving serum reached Nome.

In 1995, Universal Pictures released the movie “Balto,” based on his life. It earned three out of four stars from the most famous film critic of the day, Roger Ebert. Today a bronze statue in Balto's honor stands in Central Park.

old dogsled image

While the lead dog of the 53-mile final leg, Balto, would become famous for his role in the run, many argue that it was was the lead sled dog of musher Leonhard Seppala who was the true savior of the day. All told, the 12-year-old Togo, traversed an astounding 264 miles, compared to an average of 31 miles each for the other teams. Despite covering a far greater distance than any other lead dogs on the run, over some of the most dangerous parts of the trail, his role was left out of contemporary news of the event at the time, in favor of the lead dog for the last leg of the relay, Balto, whom Seppala also owned and had bred.

Deemed at first a mere troublemaker, before being identified as a natural leader and puppy prodigy by Seppala, Togo had already shown extreme feats of dedication and endurance as a puppy, and as an adult continued to show unusual feats of intelligence, saving the lives of his team and musher on more than one occasion. Sled dogs bred from his line have contributed to the 'Seppala Siberian Sled Dog' line.

Over time, with the help of historians, Togo began to garner the recognition he deserved. In 2001, Togo received his own statue in NYC's Seward Park. In 2019, his story was retold in the riveting Disney+ movie "Togo," starring Togo's own descendant Diesel as the namesake sled dog.

Summit Farms Rescue normally has the following breeds:

  • Alaskan Husky
  • Alaskan Malamute
  • Alaskan Klee Kai
  • American Eskimo
  • Siberian Husky
  • Samoyed
  • Greenland
  • Seppala Siberian Sled Dog

Please check out our Adoption Page for available dogs!