So, realistically, every continent is an old pet cemetery, Antarctica is just the newest, bleakest, coldest, and driest.

It’s also been the least accessible, making it historically impossible to resupply, in turn making it non-colonizable until diesel generators and the airplanes and (sometimes nuclear) icebreakers required to feed them.

The Arctic on the other hand isn’t a continent, but pretty much every winter becomes physically connected to multiple inhabited countries that already have populations, and these days road and rail, within their Arctic and sub-Arctic regions.

So while the Arctic is definitely a frozen pet cemetery, it’s been a LONG time since it was devoid of dogs (or at least wolves, who colonised it without our help).