19-461: The Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard is a specialized and restricted pet cemetery and memorial in rural Colbert County, Alabama , US. It is reserved specifically for the burials of coon dogs . The cemetery was established by Key Underwood on September 4, 1937. Underwood buried his own dog there, choosing the spot, previously a popular hunting camp where "Troop" did 15 years of service. As of August 2014, more than 300 dogs were buried in
38-614: A marker . Later, other bereaved hunters followed his example when their dogs died, and the cemetery flourished as a result. The entrance is marked by a statue of two coonhounds treeing a raccoon. During a 1984 interview with columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson , Underwood said that burying Troop was doing "something special for a special coon dog". Allowance of mere pets is contraindicated. "It would reveal that you must not know much about coon hunters and their dogs, if you think we would contaminate this burial place with poodles and lap dogs." Dogs must meet three requirements to qualify for burial at
57-641: A champion." The facility is officially recognized as an historic cemetery by the State of Alabama. Every Labor Day the Tennessee Valley Coon Hunter's Association sponsors a gathering at the cemetery in a tribute to the inauguration of the cemetery on Labor Day in 1937. The celebration includes bluegrass music , dancing, barbecue and a liar's contest. Admission is free to the public, but donations are accepted and help defray upkeep expenses. In 2014 eight Redbone Coonhound puppies were sold at
76-603: A grieving pet owner bury her dog at his hillside apple orchard. Today, it is the final resting place to around 80,000 animals including famous ones like Mariah Carey 's cat Clarence and Ming the tiger . The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. Some other famous American pet cemeteries include Aspin Hill Memorial Park in Silver Spring, Maryland , believed to be
95-518: A site in the village of Stainton by Langworth to inter animal remains alongside human remains as part of a " green burial " site, making it the first place in England where pets could be buried alongside their owners. In 2011, New York State formally adopted guidelines to allow human burials in pet cemeteries as long as the cemetery doesn't advertise it or charge a burial fee. Property caretaker Too Many Requests If you report this error to
114-479: A touching story and makes a tribute. Some have epitaphs , such as "He wasn't the best, but he was the best I ever owned". The interred dogs include many notable hunting dogs such as Hunter's Famous Amos, Ralston Purina's 1984 Dog of the Year. It is the only cemetery in the world specifically dedicated to coonhounds. By 2014, over 300 dogs were buried in the cemetery. There are two monumental sculptures. The entrance
133-487: Is a cemetery for pets . Although the veneration and burial of beloved pets has been practiced since ancient times, burial grounds reserved specifically for animals were not common until the late 19th century. Many human cultures buried animal remains. For example, the Ancient Egyptians mummified and buried cats , which they considered deities ; the oldest known pet cemetery, mainly used for cat burials,
152-487: Is a minaret that was built in approximately 1606 CE by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir in honor of his beloved pet antelope Mansraj. London's Hyde Park was the site of an informal pet cemetery between 1881 and 1903, in the gatekeeper's garden. From the first burial of "Cherry" until its official closure in 1903, it received 300 burials with miniature headstones, with a final special burial of
171-416: Is festooned with warning signs, some pocked with many bullet holes, which advise visitors of surveillance by the neighborhood; another forbids lighting fires, and stresses only coon dogs buried with permission are allowed. Caretaker and contact person for the cemetery was Janice M. Williams, aka the "Coon Dog Lady", who is the cemetery board's president . She was the first reported person to actually "count
190-646: The Black Mouth Curs , Plott Hounds , Catahoulas , and Mountain Curs )" may be admitted, but then must be proven to meet all three of the criteria, and have no fewer than three witnesses who will attest that they have seen the dog track and tree coons single-handedly. Headstones and markers in the cemetery range from homemade metal and wooden monuments to more intricate marble engraved stones, akin to human gravesites. They range from humble and home made to relatively well-crafted and ostentatious. Each reveals
209-742: The Royal Marines mascot dog "Prince" in 1967. Cimetière des Chiens in Asnières-sur-Seine in Paris , dating from 1899, is an elaborate, sculpted pet cemetery believed to be one of the first public zoological necropolis in the world. America's largest and oldest pet cemetery is the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York . It dates from 1896, when a veterinarian working out of Manhattan offered to let
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#1732783110561228-493: The Depression, they ate them, but we don't shoot [raccoons] anymore." Dogs are supposed to be independent, capable of hunting on their own, and "honest, meaning it won't run deer or rabbits; and it'll stay put, meaning it'll stay no matter rain, a storm, or another dog aggravating it," says Lee Hatton, grounds caretaker . A United Kennel Club title requires beating other champions and "It takes 100 hard-earned points to become
247-486: The cemetery: "We have stipulations on this thing, ... 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." Along with recognized breeds — i.e., " Redbone , black and tan , English bluetick , English redtick , Plott , Treeing Walker , and various combinations of the above" — "many non- AKC breeds of Southern hunting hounds (such as our native frontier hounds,
266-414: The gathering, with proceeds going to upkeep. The gathering is often attended by local politicians. The cemetery was featured in the movie Sweet Home Alabama , but the producers used artistic license to relocate it to south Alabama. The film's protagonists go looking for the graves of dogs named "Bear" and "Bryant", an homage to Bear Bryant the football coach. Pet cemetery A pet cemetery
285-421: The graves scattered across that pastoral acre: 307 as of January 2014. She keeps it presentable (without care the forest quickly encroaches)." As the 75th anniversary of the cemetery approached, coins and replica service medals started to be left on the graves. The cemetery evolved, as has the sport of coon hunting. "These days hunting's about competition... Used to, people hunted [raccoons] for their hides or in
304-504: The graveyard. Maintained by the Tennessee Valley Coon Hunters Association, it receives nearly 7,000 visitors annually. Criteria for burial are fairly well established, albeit being subject to interpretation and application. Only bona fide "coonhounds" are to be buried there. The exact measure of that standard depends on breeding, experience and performance; and seemingly depends on who and when
323-606: The second-oldest in America, as well as the Pet Memorial Cemetery in Calabasas, California , where Hopalong Cassidy 's horse, Topper, Steven Spielberg 's Jack Russell Terrier , and Rudolph Valentino 's dog, Kabar, are buried. At some cemeteries, such as Aspin Hill Memorial Park, human and animal remains may be interred alongside each other. In January 2010, West Lindsey District Council gave permission for
342-491: The tale is told and the determination made. Key Underwood established the cemetery on September 4, 1937, interring his coon dog, Troop, in an old hunting camp located in rural Colbert County, Alabama , US. The closest town is Cherokee, Alabama . At the time, Underwood only intended to bury Troop in a place they had coon hunted together for 15 years. The memorial was a serendipitous afterthought. Underwood buried Troop there, three feet deep, with an engraved old chimney stone for
361-702: Was found during the excavation of the Berenice Troglodytica seaport in 2011 and was used between the 1st and 2nd century CE . Archaeologists have found that dogs were buried alongside humans in Siberia as many as 8,000 years ago. The Ashkelon dog cemetery , the largest known dog cemetery in the ancient world, was discovered at the Ashkelon National Park in Ashkelon , Israel . The Hiran Minar near Lahore , Pakistan
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