Cherokee
Alabama
November 2013
How about the Coon Dog Cemetery? It’s in the Shoals in Alabama. The first dog was buried here in 1937. Since then, 185 more dogs have been added to the ground.
“We have stipulations on this thing,” says Larry Sanderson, current Vice President of the Coon Dog Graveyard. “A dog can’t run no deer, possum — nothing like that. He’s got to be a straight coon dog, and he’s got to be full hound. Couldn’t be a mixed up breed dog, a house dog.”
Conditions include, and this is worth noting…
. The owner must claim their pet is an authentic coon dog.
. A witness must declare the deceased is a coon dog.
. A member of the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard, Inc. must be allowed to view the coonhound and declare it as such.
Man, these guys are tough. But as the girlfriend of one bereaved dog owner says, “Now he’s in Heaven, in Coon Dog Heaven.” I’m pretty sure she was talking about their coon dog and not her boyfriend.
Earlier we passed the turnoff to The National Bird Dog Museum. There are 21 people on the Board of Directors. Gotta love that ole hound.
This is one way we know we are in the South.