Balto's celebrity status, and that of Kaasen's, resulted in a two-reel motion picture, a statue in Central Park, and a nationwide tour on the vaudeville circuit.

A falling out between Seppala and Kaasen resulted in Balto and his teammates being sold under disputed circumstances to a traveling circus operator and ultimately housed in squalor at a dime museum in Los Angeles.

Balto lived in ease at the Brookside Zoo until his death on March 14, 1933, at the age of 14; his body was subsequently mounted and displayed in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where it remains to this day.

While the subject of numerous cultural depictions and homages, including a 1995 animated film, Balto's role in the serum run remains controversial as contemporary media coverage focused almost entirely on him over the efforts of the other mushers and dogs—most notably, Seppala and his lead dog Togo—and has more recently undergone historical reappraisals.

[1] Balto's birth year is commonly recognized as 1919, in Nome, Alaska, at the kennels of Leonhard Seppala, a native Norwegian, sled dog breeder, musher and competitive racer.

[6] In January 1925, doctors realized that a potentially deadly diphtheria epidemic was poised to sweep through the young people of Nome, Alaska,[15] placing the city under quarantine.

Originally projected to arrive in Nome by February 6,[21] the date was moved up several times as the teams repeatedly broke land speed records.

[22][23] News coverage of the event, in particular the hazards posed to the dogs and the leaders,[21][24] was relayed worldwide; newspaper headlines read; "Relief Nears Nome!

[51] Film producer Sol Lesser promptly signed Kaasen, Balto and the team of "thirteen half wolves" to a contract with Educational Pictures for a movie based on the serum run.

[57][58] In one instance, while visiting Cleveland, Ohio, Kaasen was awarded a subscription to The Plain Dealer as a gift from an existing subscriber, to be delivered to his home in Nome.

[63][64] Seppala had been "amazed and vastly amused" at Balto and Kaasen's celebrity statuses,[65] but was displeased as it overlooked his lead dog Togo, who went through the run's longest and most dangerous part.

[70] The "Vaccine Research Association" unsuccessfully called for the Central Park statue's removal in 1931,[71] citing a 1929 interview where Seppala claimed all the dramatic events surrounding the run were fabricated to sell newspapers.

The exact circumstances for the sale are unclear: some accounts, including Houston himself, claimed Kaasen sold the dogs after tiring of the constant traveling and moved back to Alaska.

[79][80] By February 1927, stories emerged of Balto and six teammates living in the back room of a "for men only"[81] dime museum in Los Angeles,[82][83] also described as a freak show.

"[82] Cleveland businessman George Kimble visited the dime museum while in Los Angeles after noticing a sign outside advertising "Balto the wonder dog".

[50] Kimble reached out to area businessmen and elected officials, along with The Plain Dealer,[1] and assembled the Cleveland Balto Committee led by Common Pleas Judge James B. Ruhl,[85] which negotiated with Houston.

[73][91] By the evening of March 8, $1,517 had been raised, prompting one last-minute appeal by the Plain Dealer;[92] the following morning, the fund surpassed the $2,000 goal, totaling $2,245.88 (equivalent to $39,393 in 2023) and securing the purchase of the entire seven-dog team.

[93] The effort won the praise of Roald Amundsen, who compared it to the city of Oslo adopting the lone surviving dog from his expedition to the South Pole.

"[95] Balto and his six teammates—Alaska Slim, Fox, Tillie, Billie, Old Moctoc and Sye[g]—were transported by train from Los Angeles to Cleveland along with identification papers;[98] arriving March 16, the dogs were escorted to temporary quarters at Brookside Zoo.

[111] Another 1929 story centered around his "daydreaming" of Richard E. Byrd's expedition of Antarctica;[112] this resulted in multiple letters to the editor that criticized the enclosure and were concerned about the welfare of the dogs.

[139] CMNH announced in August 1998 that Balto would be loaned to the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, who paid substantial money to insure his mount,[10] for six months.

[140] The Anchorage Museum previously sought to have Balto displayed in an exhibit tied to the 1988 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race[42] and were in negotiations with CMNH earlier in the year about a loan.

[136] Balto was placed in a special crate for the trip to Anchorage with the label "Contents: One Hero Dog",[10] and a CMNH curator was present at the museum for the exhibition's duration.

[150] Many of them died prior to the 1970s, when efforts were made to better preserve Alaskan history, and surviving mushers were given honorary "number one" designations in the early years of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

[152] Writer Kenneth Ungermann argued Balto's outsized fame was more a symbol of the feats achieved during the run, writing, "[t]o the American public, the glorified husky was representative of Jack, Dixie, Togo, and every other leader and dog that helped carry the antitoxin and hope to the people of Nome.

"[153] In a 2020 op-ed for the Anchorage Daily News, historian David Reamer criticized Balto Seppala Park in Anchorage for fostering "the misconception of Balto as the singular hero dog of Nome" and "[a]ny opportunity is a good opportunity to spread the worthy truth of Togo";[66] Reamer praised the movie Togo for remedying "a historical misjustice".

[12] In ranking the top 10 heroic animals for Time, Katy Steinmetz placed Togo at number one, writing, "the dog that often gets credit ... is Balto, but he just happened to run the last ... leg in the race.

[155] CMNH has recognized Togo as "a superb leader... courageous and strong, smart and possessing an exceptional ability to find the trail and sense danger".

[11] CMNH chief science officer Gavin Svenson was enthusiastic about the project and noted advancements in technology have since made it easier to map out genomes from 100-year old DNA.

[164][167] Balto had several DNA adaptations that promoted Arctic survival, including a thick double coat, the ability to digest starch, and bone and tissue development.