Calling all of the Malamute/Husky Lovers (here)

[cyber-sibes]

Why? Do they all die or something?

Thirteen of the fifteen dogs died, most were still on their chains. Taro & Jiro, the two that survived, became famous in Japan. Found this on the web:
Sakhalin Husky, also known as the Karafuto-Ken:

Antarctic expedition
This breed's claim to fame came from the ill-fated 1958 Japanese research expedition to Antarctica, which made an emergency evacuation and was forced to leave behind 15 sled dogs. The researchers believed that a relief team would arrive within a few days, so they left the dogs chained up outside with a small supply of food; however, the weather turned bad and the team never made it to the outpost.

Incredibly, nearly one year later, a new expedition arrived and discovered that two of the dogs, "Taro" and "Jiro", had survived and they became instant heroes. ...The breed spiked in popularity upon the release of the 1983 film, Nankyoku Monogatari, about Taro and Jiro. A second 2006 film, Eight Below, provided a fictional version of the occurrence, but did not reference the breed. Instead, the film features only eight dogs: two Alaskan malamutes and six Siberian huskies.

Also found this, from a woman who visited the garden in Japan where statues of a pack of huskies commemorate the incident:
"I had to wipe away tears as I read the story, but there was something gnawing at me. Just what did Taro and Jiro eat all those months? What if they'd been lunching on the other pooches in the mush line? After a bit more research I was relieved to learn that some of the dogs had slipped their collars and learned to hunt penguins and seals. Of the dogs that got free, only Taro and Jiro survived the dangers of the harsh climate, but there is nothing to suggest cannibalism. In fact, the frozen corpses of several dogs were found untouched. Heroes don't eat their buddies."