Patsy Ann

Juneau, the State capitol of Alaska had an offical greeter with a difference!

In 1934 Juneau's Mayor Goldstein dubbed Patsy Ann, a Bull Terrier, as 'official greeter' of the town!

Patsy Ann had been stone deaf from her birth just a year earlier, but somehow she could 'hear' the siren of a ship due to enter port, long before it even was in sight. When this happened she would trot rapidly down to the docks. She was never wrong!

One memorable occasion when information about a ship's arrival had been given out incorrectly and people had started gathering at the wrong dock Patsy Ann stood gazing at the crowd for a long moment, then with a shake of her head she turned and trotted to the correct dock.

Between ships Patsy Ann would make the rounds of her many friends in the town, she had become a fixture in many a bar and hotel lobby. Her image adorned post cards sold in curio shops, and for many visitors to Juneau she became the highlight of their visit. She became even more famous than the most famous dog of that era. . .Rin Tin Tin.

Of no fixed address, Patsy Ann spent most of her nights in the Longshoreman's hall, where she was surround by kindred souls. It was, fitting, that she died there, gently, on March 30 1942.

Fifty years after her death, her statue was commissioned by the 'Friends of Patsy Ann'. Sculptured by Anna Burke Harris the bronze statue was installed on the wharf she knew so well. Each year thundreds of thousands of tourists visit Juenau from cruise ships and are greeted on the dock by Patsy Ann, as she would have in the 1930s.