The Key Underwood Coondog Cemetery started in 1937, when Mr. Key Underwood buried his dog, Troop, at the site of a popular local hunting camp. Since then more than 185 coon dogs have been laid to rest there.

Only coon dogs are interred in the cemetery. The rules for admission are as follows.
First: The owner must claim their pet was an authentic coon dog
Second: A witness must confirm this claim
Third: A member of the local coonhunter's association must be allowed to view the dog and confirm it was a coon hound.

The cemetary has a web site, coondogcemetary.com. On it you can find information about the place including this interesting anecdote:

"When columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson interviewed Underwood in 1985, he told her that a woman from California (once) wrote him wanting to know why he didn't allow other kinds of dogs to be buried at the coon dog cemetery.

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, he responded."

The cemetery is located in the Freedom Hills area of Alabama's western Colbert County.

See more pictures from photographer Ian Spannier's shoot of this hunt by clicking here. Click here to read T. Edward Nickens' story, "To The Dogs."

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