Annie the Railroad Dog

The grave of Annie the Railroad Dog has testified to the loyalty of a polite little dog that inspired generations of dog-lovers born long after her death.

Annie greeted passengers at Mason Street train station in Fort Collins, Colorado over sixty years ago. Like Shep of Fort Benton, Annie was adopted by railroad men during the 1930s.

Chris Demuth, a railroad worker picked up Annie during a stop on the Eastern Plains run. Annie was thin and pregnant, but Chris brought her back to the Fort Collins depot. Even though they had a no-dogs policy, the depot adopted Annie.
Fort Collins residents told visitors that Annie licked the tears from the faces of weeping soldiers returning from World War II, and that some arriving passengers even hailed Annie before greeting their own families.

Loretta Demuth Burdette, Chris Demuth’s daughter, described Annie as a sweetheart. She seemed to comprehend her exceptional status, waiting against the wall until someone beckoned her.

Annie died in 1948 and the railroad crew buried her in the rail yard. They put up a headstone, “From the C&S Men to Annie Our Dog, 1934-1948.” Years later, city officials considered moving the grave during the depot’s renovation, but  Annie’s friends put up a strong defence and swiftly moved to get Annie’s Mason Street gravesite (near Laporte Avenue) listed as a historical landmark, while her two and a half foot tall statue is out in front of the town library, marking the start of the Annual Annie Dog Walk. The statue has one paw held out to visitors, as if to say, “Read, boy! Read!”