Old, overgrown dog cemetery.

A dog cemetery dating back to the 1920s was uncovered by a developer who bought a large tract of land to build a subdivision. The centerpiece is a huge solid granite memorial to War Dogs. The memorials range from ornate polished granite headstones to concrete stepping stones with the dog's name and date of death. Difficult to estimate because so many were overgrown - but there had to be at least 200 dogs buried there. Strange thinking of all those remains under my feet....the day I went was grey and cold. A typical late winter Michigan day appropriate for tromping around an old cemetery.
Adjacent to a busy road with traffic whooshing by, in the woods, and all overgrown with ivy and grass. The most recent headstone I saw was dated 1978. One - for Blacky - sported a sad sprig of weathered purple silk flowers - someone must still be paying homage to Blacky all these years on. He must have been a WW2 war dog. His headstone reads:

BLACKY.
GERMANY 1950 - DETROIT 1964.
Memories of you will always live with us.
The Ainhorn Family.

Ivanhoe-Huntley Homes kindly decided not to bulldoze over the old cemetery. In the backhoe photo, the war dog memorial stone is just visible in front of the cab, way back in the trees. The old cemetery takes up about a half acre and is backed by a large swamp. Funny, I've driven right by this place many times - not many people know about it. I was only clued in by a small blurb in the local paper.