Elizabeth Holmes may have grown so accustomed to lying that she even allegedly fibbed about mundane, inconsequential, and adorable things. In February 2019, Vanity Fair reported that Holmes began bringing her Siberian husky puppy into the Theranos offices in September 2017 — and that the puppy, named Balto, frequently relieved himself all over the building. Aside from the obvious inconveniences of canine incontinence in a workplace, bringing Balto into the Theranos offices and labs posed another risk: Theranos scientists worried that Balto’s fur could contaminate blood samples.
Holmes reportedly attempted train Balto as a search and rescue dog, but “huskies are not bred for rescue; they are long-distance runners, and Balto failed out,” reported Vanity Fair. Holmes also reportedly began telling people that Balto was a wolf, but according to The Nest, purebred huskies contain about as much wolf DNA as a poodle or bulldog.
Final fun fact: She reportedly named Balto “after the world-famous sled dog who, in 1925, led a team of huskies on a dangerous, 600-mile trek from Nenana, Alaska, to remote Nome, Alaska, bearing an antitoxin that was used to fight a diphtheria outbreak,” the magazine said. “…In Holmes’s telling, Balto’s perseverance mirrored her own. His voyage with the life-changing drug was not so different from her ambition.”
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