Known as Lexington's town dog, and nicknamed the Canine Con Man, the Magnificent Moocher, and the Panhandling Pooch, Smiley Pete was a friend to all. He was so well loved, he often graced the front cover of both the Lexington Leader and the Lexington Herald, whether it was for catching an opossum, posing for a local charity, or showing off his litter of puppies.
Pete was born in 1943 and came to downtown Lexington around 1946 after his owner, rumored to be a traveling man, gave up trying to keep the wandering pup home. This suited Pete just fine; he set up his new home on the sidewalk between Welch's Cigar Store and Brandy's Kitchen on the east corner of Main and Limestone Streets, where the courthouse sits today.
Pete was a mutt, but you'd never guess it seeing him strut up and down the streets of downtown. Some have speculated that he was most likely a mix of spitz, shepherd, and bird dog.
It wasn't long after that the people of downtown started calling Pete, Smiley Pete, for his distinctive tooth-baring grin.
A moocher by profession, Pete had quite a schedule. Breakfast usually consisted of hamburgers and waffles prepared for him by Robert LeClere of Brandy's Kitchen; lunchtime led him in the direction of University of Kentucky's campus where he would sometimes stop in for a lesson and a bite to eat; afternoons you could find him lapping up a nice, cold beer, preferably draught, from Elliston's Turf Bar, or enjoying a few Hershey bars at Paritz's Short & Lime Liquor Store. And every day around 4 p.m., when Pete was craving actual dog food, he would stop in Carter's Supply Co. for a bowl-full and some water.
Smiley Pete would travel up and down the streets of downtown, crossing busy intersections up to 50 times a day, without a care, causing many to believe that he could actually read the traffic signals.
Many people tried, unsuccessfully, to adopt Pete, but that just wasn't his style. He liked his freedom too much. He would rarely enter any of the downtown shops, even when he was coaxed with food, although he did manage to get himself locked inside Hart's drug store in 1954, much to his chagrin (Lexington Leader, Feb. 14, 1954).
The only dog allowed to roam freely by local police, Smiley's ventures ended briefly, one summer in 1949. Lexington had a rabies scare and every dog was put under quarantine, even Pete. Store owners collected money to have him put in a kennel at Del-Tor Clinic on Southland Drive until the epidemic passed. Pete was not happy about this turn of events, but after a three-month stay he was set free to wander the streets again.
Pete had a lot of friends and they all took their turn caring for him. Patrolman Ernest Jacobs, whose beat coincided with Pete's, fixed him a warm bed out of an insulated cardboard box in the doorway of Brooks Clothing Company for the colder months. Mr. and Mrs. Welch made sure Pete had a bath every few months and Mrs. Welch made sure he was dressed appropriately for the holidays--in a big, red bow. Others took turns paying to have his shots and tags updated. Pete's 1952 rabies vaccination certificate from Del-Tor is still floating around these days; on the line marked "Owner it is signed "Pete" and on the address line is written "Main and Lime."
"Everybody loved him