Digital Extra: The Journal's 175th Anniversary

07.21.2004

1980. Dogged determination used to solve mystery of shepherd's identity

Nothing beats a great dog story, and the story of "Jess" seemed like one of the best. And then it got better.

Jess, a German shepherd, broke his collar, ran away from his Aspen, Colo., home and vanished. Eighteen months (and 2,200 miles) later, the dog appeared at the East Greenwich home of his master's parents, where Jess had lived as a puppy.

A story and a picture of Jess ran in The Providence Journal on July 16, 1980, with the headline:

Dog returns to R.I. home after 18-month trek.

Jess was a celebrity.

But wait a second . . .

The day after the story was published, The Evening Bulletin carried a short item on a neighboring family that had lost its German shepherd, Smoky, about the time Jess had miraculously arrived home. They said they recognized Smoky in the newspaper photo, and contended that "Jess" -- the celebrity animal that had walked from Colorado -- appeared to be their dog, whose actual trek would have been about a mile.

Bulletin reporters working on the story learned that Smoky had once suffered a broken leg, and had been treated at an animal hospital in North Kingstown. They also learned that the veterinarian who had fixed Smoky's leg had at one time also treated Jess, and still had x-ray records of both animals.

Joel P. Rawson, now the executive editor of The Journal, was Bulletin editor in 1980. He wanted to solve the dog mystery, and decided that the paper would arrange to have the veterinarian x-ray the dog.

The Bulletin reported the results on July 24.

As the doctor stepped from the darkroom, he was unequivocal: "It's Smoky."

The x-ray evidence was indisputable: the pictures clearly showed the healed fracture in Smoky's "right proximal tibia," and the two metal pins the doctor had inserted permanently into the dog's knee in 1978.

The Bulletin ran a series of three x-rays on the front page, showing the original break in Smoky's leg, the mended bone and the metal pins. A photo of the dog resting on the x-ray table ran with the caption: "Smoky knew it all along."