Nearly a decade ago, my now-husband first introduced me to the Star Trek franchise by way of the series Star Trek: Enterprise. “You’ll like this one,” he assured me, “it’s got a dog in it.”
Porthos, the dog belonging to Captain Jonathan Archer, portrayed by Scott Bakula, is one example of Star Trek’s odd pets. They’re cute and lovable, but there’s something just not quite right about them. It wasn’t until 2009’s Star Trek cinematic reboot when Scotty, played by actor Simon Pegg, says that he tested the particle beam on “Admiral Archer’s prized beagle” that I realized why. The dogs, cats, fish, Targs (Klingon boars), and other animals of Star Trek are portrayed as individual domestic pets of their owners when they are in fact maritime animals.
In 1898, the Southern Cross Expedition took around ninety dogs to Antarctica.1 The dogs were brought for their power, for their ability to carry people around camp in the most inhospitable conditions. As the first canines to set foot in the South Pole, though, these dogs were also agents of colonization – proven by a massacre of penguins that magnetic scientist William Colbeck described as “heartbreaking.”2 But this doesn’t feel like any of the pets I know of in the Star Trek universe. Despite being a Beagle, Porthos isn’t known for his hunting abilities. Captain Picard’s fish, Livingstone, certainly isn’t much of a threat. Grudge the cat from Star Trek: Discovery is, perhaps, the closest match, but still not an obvious representation of colonial domination.3
Expedition member Per Savio with some of the dogs during the journey south, 1898–1899. Canterbury Museum 1978.207.124. No known copyright holder (via).
As I read more about the Southern Cross Expedition, I realized the dogs’ roles were much more complicated. During a particularly harrowing part of the expedition, some of the men were pushed to the limits of exploration. Left with limited options and dangerous conditions, the explorers measured their humanity by how each man treated the dogs. Physicist Louis Bernacchi wrote of his disdain for commanding officer and surveyor Carsten Borchgrevink’s “barbaric” treatment of the dogs after the especially tragic death of the dog Bismark. In his own writing, Borchgrevink described scientist Anton Fougner as “noble” for working to dig a grave in the frozen earth for his puppy.4 The role these dogs played during the most intensive part of the journey was to reflect the scientist explorer’s humanity back to them.
In this lens, the Trek pet who best symbolizes these dogs is Data’s cat, Spot. On a traditional maritime ship, Spot’s role as a cat would be pest control. He would spend his time hunting rats and cockroaches. He might even share this role with other animals like chickens or a small terrier. On the Enterprise, Spot’s role is to humanize Data, both to others on the ship and to Data himself. The odd thing about Spot, though, is that this is largely where his story line ends. At the risk of being too punny, we don’t ever “see Spot run” – down the corridor, to his friends, or into trouble. Unlike other maritime animals, Spot isn’t everyone’s cat – a mascot.
Mascots at Army-Navy game, November 29, 1924. November National Photo Company Collection, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The mascot of the U.S.S. Brooklyn, Edward H. Hart, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
U.S. Marine Corps Private First Class Chesty, Marine Corps mascot, at Marine Barracks 8th and I, in Washington, D.C., marches during the U.S. Marines Evening Parade at the Oldest Post in the Corps, Washington, D.C., July 17, 2020.DoD photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders via Wikimedia Commons
The history of a ship mascot is not new. Animals of all kinds have been used for this purpose. Whether official or not, maritime and military mascots serve the myriad functions that pets do. They helped soldiers and sailors keep a sense of normalcy and routine, offered a listening ear, and reminded them of the importance of a gentle touch.5 As historian Hannah Palsa noted, this was easy work for some military Dogs for Defense, who were pulled from the home front to serve on the front lines. In my imagination, I see the Klingon Empire asking children to send their pet Targs for a similar purpose. We know that Targs are bred for explicit military use in some cases, but they’re gentle enough that Molly O’Brien (Hana Hatae) has a plush toy Targ on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Dr. Antaak (John Schuck) has one as a pet on Star Trek: Enterprise.
But none of these animals are mascots in the Star Trek universe. None of them are used for hunting rodents. None of them produce food. None of these pets are maritime animals, despite the promise of Star Trek as an adventure through the universe. Instead, what we get from Star Trek is a question about the role of animals in our future.
The 1994 Madrid Protocol banned dogs from Antarctica, citing the protection of wildlife and disease containment. If we hope to create a future of exploration that looks something like the Prime Directive, how do we face a history that tells us animals are essential to human wellbeing while balancing the threats they pose?6 Where does “Man’s Best Friend” fit in space – the final frontier? For this, we turn to reality.
The pets of Star Trek are a sterilized form of maritime animals because they do not naturally come to the role. In a nonfiction universe where humans embark on deep space exploration, the animals we bring or discover along the way will likely look much like the animals we’ve encountered in previous periods of exploration. They’ll be the huskies who can brave the cold, the chickens we need for pest control, and the polar bears and lizards we pick up along the way. We don’t know what humans will find in space, or what we’ll need when we get there. If our past relationship with animals of exploration tells us anything, it’s that they’ll likely help us figure it out.
- The Southern Cross Expedition (1898-1900) was the first Antarctic mission to prove that living on the arctic continent during winter months was possible. While the mission is often also referred to as the “British Antarctic Expedition,” the crew consisted of only three British nationals and was led by Norwegian national Carsten Borchgrevink. The Southern Cross Expedition faced numerous difficulties from unanticipated climate and man-made blunders. Borchgrevink’s team, however, chronicled significant discoveries that were only fully appreciated upon the repeat efforts of Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition almost a decade later.
- Diana Patterson, Janette G. Simmonds, and Tristan L. Snell, “‘Savage Beasts,’ ‘Great Companions’: The First Dogs to Winter on the Antarctic Continent,” Society & Animals 28 (2020): 658.
- Phillip Moyer, “Captain Picard’s Fish Has A Name, and It’s Named After A Real Person,” Giant Freakin Robot, April 7, 2023, https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/captain-picards-fish-name-livingston.html
- Diana Patterson, Janette G. Simmonds, and Tristan L. Snell, “‘Savage Beasts,’ ‘Great Companions,’” 663.
- “Canine Mascots of the Civil War,” Kennesaw mountain National Battlefield Park, National Park Service, accessed November 30, 2024, https://www.nps.gov/kemo/learn/historyculture/upload/Canine-Mascots-bulletin_A.pdf; Dorothy Rieke, “Goats, Mules, and Football Games,” U.S. Naval Institute, December 2023, accessed November 30, 2024, https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2023/december/goats-mules-and-football-games; “Animals in the Army: Companions Mascots and Animals of War,” U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, accessed November 30, 2024, https://ahec.armywarcollege.edu/exhibits/animalsinarmy.cfm.
- In Star Trek, the Prime Directive guides StarFleet officers and members of The Federation in exploration. The goal of the Prime Directive is non-interference. It forbids contact with “pre-warp” societies, or societies who have not invented warp drive on their own. While the stated hope is to allow freedom and self-determination, the concept of the Prime Directive itself often opens the door for discussions of colonial paternalism.