The Mysterious Bridge In Scotland Where Dogs Go To Kill Themselves

A bridge built in the village of Milton, Scotland in 1895, which leads to the Overtoun House, is said to draw dogs to jump off it. Since the 1950's, 600 dogs have jumped off the 50 ft. tall bridge, resulting in the deaths of 50 dogs. Some say both the Overton House and Bridge are haunted. Only long nosed breeds jump and they all jump at a certain spot on the bridge. People too, have felt a very strange feeling while walking on the bridge.

"I've walked the bridge," says Jenna, 20, from Glasgow. "The first time I reached a point, and it was as if the air got thinner and my stomach jumped, a bit like when you miss a step going down a flight of stairs. The second time, I just couldn't stop feeling like something bad was going to happen. There was a woman with a dog at the edge of the bridge, and the dog would not take a step forward.

www.vice.com...

No one knows for sure why the dogs jump off the bridge, but for many dogs, the urge is too hard to resist.

Some 600 more dogs are said to have flung themselves off the bridge from the same exact spot and survived — after which some of them get back up and try to jump all over again.

Local Donna Cooper lost her collie, Ben, in 2005 to the deadly bridge. She tells the Daily Mail, “His paw was broken, his jaw was broken and his back was broken and badly twisted. The vet decided it wasn’t worth putting him through the pain, so we had to let him go.”

nypost.com...

One theory is that the dogs are lured to jump by the scent of small animals, especially mink, that nest below the bridge. However, no one knows why dogs don't jump off on other bridges in Scotland, with mink nesting below them.

Dr. David Sands, a canine psychologist, visited the bridge in 2005, with a film crew. He wanted to investigate this mysterious bridge and he uncovered some interesting findings. He determined that the dogs weren't lured by sight, or the sound of certain frequencies that only they heard. He concluded that the dogs were being lured by the scent of mink urine, but couldn't explain why the dogs jumped off only between the two ramparts on the right-hand side of the bridge. He too, felt an odd sensation while on the bridge.

There, standing at the point of the bridge where the dogs jump, he says, "Just me as a person, forget a dog—all your senses are on fire… it's got a strange feeling."

www.vice.com...

There's also a very tragic case that occurred in 1995, involving a man throwing his infant son off the bridge...between the same two ramparts on the bridge, where all the dogs jump off.

The structure has a tragic past. In 1994, a 32-year-old man threw his infant son, Eoghan, to his death—on a clear day, between the last two parapets of the bridge—claiming his child was the antichrist. The man tried to kill himself twice, first by following his son off the bridge—which he was stopped from doing by his wife—then by slashing his wrists with a knife he'd found. The child died in hospital the following day. The man was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity in a unanimous verdict and committed to Carstairs psychiatric hospital in South Lanarkshire.

www.vice.com...

Maybe there is a body wrapped in mink furs buried underneath those ramparts. I've read about stories related to ghosts seen in particular locations such as around stone fireplaces. Sometimes, it was enough to remove those stones. Other times, they would find skeletons nearby (under the floor, trapped in the chimney or behind wall cavities). Some of the ghosts were animals like cats as well as humans.

Or perhaps there is some magnetic or electrical disturbance there, maybe even microwave radiation. Enough to trigger nerve ending receptors. I know that when I use a PCMCIA GPRS card or bluetooth on my smartphones I get a metallic smell. With the PCMCIA card my finger joints ache. Dogs have a sense of smell thousands of time more sensitive than humans, so something we would barely sense would be intense as being in a steamy fish'n'chip shop.

a reply to: stormcell

What's the smell that could cause a dog to jump off a bridge?

Is there anywhere else in the world where this happens?

Is there any known smell that would cause a dog to risk that serious of an injury or even death to get to it?

Are there any documented incidents of dogs taking suicidal measures to get to minks?

Perceptual illusion perhaps, interesting theory. The dogs don't perceive the drop. It may account for humans feeling uneasy as well.

There is also something strange about this bridge, where the land slopes away on one side and dogs lose their bearings. Plus, dogs are colour blind: they see in pastels and have perceptual problems with large swathes of green or red, so again, perhaps something in the lie of the land confuses them, leading them to leap to the navigable safety of 50 feet below. It could of course be an untimely combination of all these factors, which would account for it only affecting certain dogs. The consolation to families left behind is that the dogs definitely didn't do it on purpose. They weren't depressed, and would never have left the family so bereft. They loved the new baby ...

www.theguardian.com...


Turns out it's been objectively investigated. The investigator's statement (same guy quoted in the OP):

Actually, minks are very common in Scotland (almost 26,000 in total). So there are other safer places to look for them. Why attacking them under this particular bridge? Dr. Sands said:

“Simple, when you get down to a dog’s level, the solid granite of the bridge’s 18-inch-thick walls obscures their vision and blocks out all sound. As a result, the one sense not obscured, that of smell, goes into overdrive.”

curiositiesfromtheworld.blogspot.com...

The "Unexplained Files" did a segment on the bridge titled, "Lost Giants of Georgia and Bridge of Death"

The best part: Animal expert says (paraphrasing); "Dogs don't just wake up and say, 'today's the day I've had enough, Imma trow meself off a bridge".

I tend to agree with Phage, but the program (referenced above) interviewed individuals declaring there aren't enough minks in the area to be hit on, let alone strong enough to send a dog to ferret it out.

Interesting.

They need to put a bouncy castle at the bottom and take a load of dogs there to film it for science.
Cool looking bridge also.

They need to put a bouncy castle at the bottom and take a load of dogs there to film it for science.
Cool looking bridge also.

What an interesting story! Never heard of this place before.

Thanks for posting!

I have heard of this story and it's always fascinated me. Dogs just jumping off the bridge for no reason. If it were one or two you could just say it's one of those things, but it's happened so many times, you can't call it a coincidence.

I used to have a dog that hated bridges. He would get scared and walk very close to me in the middle. Once we were over it, he was chirpy and himself again.

Animals tend to have a sixth sense for situations. Maybe they can sense that something terrible happened along the route and it's too much for them to handle.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

Thanks for posting this. Now if I can figure out how to get my ex wife on that bridge.

Seems like they could just put a fence along the side to keep the dogs from jumping.

Can you get parachutes for dogs?.

originally posted by: abe froman
a reply to: stormcell

What's the smell that could cause a dog to jump off a bridge?

Is there anywhere else in the world where this happens?

Is there any known smell that would cause a dog to risk that serious of an injury or even death to get to it?

Are there any documented incidents of dogs taking suicidal measures to get to minks?

Given that it is dogs with long snouts (which have a stronger sense of smell) it has to be something in the air.

This picture has what appears to be a drain pipe.

the-line-up.com...

So when it rains, all the smelly stuff on the ground (animal + bird droppings) gets washed down by the rain into a drainage pipe and out through the pipe into the air.

a reply to: abe froman

"Is there any known smell that would cause a dog to risk that serious of an injury or even death to get to it? "

A female dog in heat.

originally posted by: stormcell
Maybe there is a body wrapped in mink furs buried underneath those ramparts. I've read about stories related to ghosts seen in particular locations such as around stone fireplaces. Sometimes, it was enough to remove those stones. Other times, they would find skeletons nearby (under the floor, trapped in the chimney or behind wall cavities). Some of the ghosts were animals like cats as well as humans.

Or perhaps there is some magnetic or electrical disturbance there, maybe even microwave radiation. Enough to trigger nerve ending receptors. I know that when I use a PCMCIA GPRS card or bluetooth on my smartphones I get a metallic smell. With the PCMCIA card my finger joints ache. Dogs have a sense of smell thousands of time more sensitive than humans, so something we would barely sense would be intense as being in a steamy fish'n'chip shop.

Yea first thought was
similar to the great wall of China and the interred bodies within the wall.

Death bridge.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

That's a pretty misleading thread title if you ask me.
I'm sure the dog's don't "go there to kill themselves".

Every case that I've heard of has pretty much the same description...
A PERSON walks their dog over that bridge, and the dog (seemingly inexplicably) jumps off to his injury or death?

Two things are quite unusual about that bridge;
It has low but solid walls on either side (there are no gaps to see through from a low perspective).
It has a very large precipitous drop onto the rocks/river below which does indeed house Mink/Otter and a variety of other wild species that might interest a dog with a good nose.

If you view crossing that bridge from a dogs perspective...
You walk on a wide path (road) through a gatehouse onto a part of the path which has a low but solid wall either side (which blocks your view).
Your view up to that point has been flat, open, grassy ground on either side of the path.
Half way along the part of the path with the low wall... you start smelling the wildlife on the other side of that wall... what could it be?? You sniff the air.... definitely something there!!! and it's just the other side of that low wall...
You can see where this is going?

From a dogs perspective, the only thing between him and chasing the rabbits/otters/mink etc that he can smell is that low wall... one small jump later and we have a tragic dog fall.
A few more dogs making the same mistake and a spooky "mystery" is born.

Cut some slots in the bridge walls so that the dogs can see the drop and we'll see if they still "kill themselves" or not.

G

If there are 600 dogs that have jumped off the bridge since the 1950s then that's roughly once a month. Exactly how statistically significant that is depends, I guess, on how many dogs walk across that bridge in a month.

Strange story though.

originally posted by: Gordi The Drummer
a reply to: shawmanfromny

That's a pretty misleading thread title if you ask me.
I'm sure the dog's don't "go there to kill themselves".

Every case that I've heard of has pretty much the same description...
A PERSON walks their dog over that bridge, and the dog (seemingly inexplicably) jumps off to his injury or death?

Two things are quite unusual about that bridge;
It has low but solid walls on either side (there are no gaps to see through from a low perspective).
It has a very large precipitous drop onto the rocks/river below which does indeed house Mink/Otter and a variety of other wild species that might interest a dog with a good nose.

If you view crossing that bridge from a dogs perspective...
You walk on a wide path (road) through a gatehouse onto a part of the path which has a low but solid wall either side (which blocks your view).
Your view up to that point has been flat, open, grassy ground on either side of the path.
Half way along the part of the path with the low wall... you start smelling the wildlife on the other side of that wall... what could it be?? You sniff the air.... definitely something there!!! and it's just the other side of that low wall...
You can see where this is going?

From a dogs perspective, the only thing between him and chasing the rabbits/otters/mink etc that he can smell is that low wall... one small jump later and we have a tragic dog fall.
A few more dogs making the same mistake and a spooky "mystery" is born.

Cut some slots in the bridge walls so that the dogs can see the drop and we'll see if they still "kill themselves" or not.

This ^

G

a reply to: mirageman

I wonder what idiot thinks it's a good idea to take their dog across that bridge knowing its well documented association with dog deaths. Don't tempt fate, people!

It would be very interesting to know what the percentage of male/female jumpers is. If it's only males perhaps there is a concentrated scent like a female in heat wafting through the air. The pheromones kick in and they jump to get to the source. That would make this an instinctive reaction not under the control of the dog. If so how is the smell getting replenished?
Nothing here says they are growling so it's not a defense or offensive action.

a reply to: datasdream
I know of a couple of happy bastards I would like to take to the bridge and un leash the buggers.