The Russian Branch of the International Society for the Preservation of Primitive Aboriginal Dogs (R-PADS)
R-PADS was founded to "unite people interested in the aboriginal dogs of Russia>, regardless of whether they lived in the Russian Federation or beyond Russia’s borders." The founding members hoped that communication, exchange of information and coordination of efforts to preserve "these valuable dogs of our ancestors" and to assure their survival for future generations as unchanged and capable dogs who for centuries assisted people to survive in a harsh environment and shared with them the hardships of “uncivilized” life.
From the January 2004 issue of the R-PADS Newsletter:
"Simultanously with information about Russian breeds, R-PADS publishes articles about aboriginal breeds of other countries, former republics of the Soviet Union. Genotypically, these dogs are close to now popular Russian purebreds and their histories have much in common."
From that same Newsletter, in an article entitled, Our Northern Dogs, by
B. I. Shiroky:
"The Americans have developed and breed a sled dog named the Siberian Husky and the term Husky can be translated as Laika. However, this breed, in our understanding, does not have any relationship to Siberian dogs as I understand them. The Siberian Husky is a cultivated specialized breed, which American cynologists obtained by selective breeding our sled dogs imported from northeastern parts of Chukotka, the Kolyma River and Kamchatka."
