While I normally confine my cemetery research to those of the human variety, I can be easily lead astray when it comes to interesting cemeteries that do not contain human remains. When I heard of the Coon Dog Cemetery in Cherokee Alabama, my interest was immediately piqued. Coon Dog Cemetery? Seriously? I have visited several pet cemeteries but never an entire cemetery dedicated to one specific breed of dog.
“Alright, what the heck? This will be good for a quick laugh.” I thought as I drove Alabama’s secluded backwoods roads peering through my bug-splattered windshield for Coon Dog Cemetery Road. Maybe there will be two or three sticks in the ground marking a few crude burial sites where dog owners laid the remains of their hunting companions.
Well, I have to tell you I wasn’t laughing when I pulled into the Key Underwood Coon Dog Cemetery. There before me laid the remains of 185 beloved members of hunting families delicately honored with tombstones and epitaphs that could make any animal lover shed a tear.
There is:
Greasy’s Spot
Gypsy
Old Red
Squeek
Preacher
Hank
Daisy
Strait Talkn’ Tex
Blue Flash and Blue Flash Jr.
Tree Talkin’ Train
Papa
Lassie
So Blue Rocky
Bear
Beanblossom Bommer
Duke
Old Roy
Ranger
Ruff
High Pocket
Lulubelle
Doctor Doom
and, not to forget to mention, TROOP, the first coondog buried in the Coondog Cemetery on September 4, 1937.
The Coon Dog Cemetery is only intended for the interment of “straight” coon dogs. That means, coon dogs that spend their pursuits of game other than Raccoons are not welcome. Does your dog run rabbit, squirrel, armadillo, or deer? Then your dog is not welcome here. Is your dog part chow, Labrador, Shepard, or (God forbid) poodle? Then you best bury it elsewhere.
Nearby Attraction: The Rattlesnake Saloon
How to get to the Coon Dog Cemetery:
