50 Dogs Commited Suicide from The Overtoun Bridge (Scotland)

I came across this a few years ago and it still kinds of baffles me.

'The Overtoun Bridge near Dumbarton in west Scotland has earned the reputation of being "The Dog Suicide Bridge." Since the 1950's, it has been the scene of at least fifty, presumed suicides where dogs have inexplicably leapt to their deaths. In recent years the number of deaths has risen dramatically, with five animals jumping in six months - www.psychologytoday.com...
The most recent case a woman claims that she was out walking her dog when it suddenly ran away and "vaulted over the parapet and plunged 40ft to its death."
Now there are some theories out there regarding layout of bridge and smell and stuff and i dont buy it. I have a dog and i live surrounded three sides by cliffs. There is no way my dog is going to jump over he has a sense of danger.
One further intersting note is the fact that...
Most of the jumps are made off of the same side of the bridge. Another odd similarity between the canine "suicides" at Overtoun Bridge is that they are almost all committed by dogs of long-nosed breeds.
www.associatedcontent.com...
Nonetheless, these dogs are climbing onto the parapets of Overtoun Bridge, over the thick, solid walls and jumping to their deaths.
Anyone got any good ideas....

kx

I though this had been solved, that the dogs jumped to their deaths from a scent that came from that side of the bridge. I have no source but I remember reading about it... might look for source when I'm a little more sober.

Still, it's a very interesting story, I'd love to visit that place.

I watched a video on it two. I think it leaves too many open varibles. Dog are not stupid. I could hang a tonne of prime beef from the side of the cliff. My dogs not gona jump over and get it. He values his life.
thank you for reply i thought this thread was dead in the water so to speak...

kx

I'm wondering if some sort of optical illusion lets the dogs think they can make the jump chasing that yummy smell (knowing dogs prob fox poo!). I saw this a while back too and it got me thinking. It could also have paranormal reasons behind it.

reply to post by purplemer


It depends a lot on your dog.

I have a lab, and a beagle. Both are pretty smart, but one will follow her nose to her own demise.

Guess which.

They even told us to expect that from our beagle, as they are notorious for going straight into moving traffic for the right scent.

This is also a known problem with other "hound" or scent dogs.

I can understand a dog following a smell across a road and getting run over. I cant understand a dog climbing up over a wall and throwing itself off. Most of the deaths seem to happen on the same side of the bridge. Now if some creature has been living under the bridge for the last 50 years, why would its smell only waft up one side of the bridge.

Wow that's 'ruff'!

On a serious note maybe there is some type of organism growing on that side of the bridge, like moss on trees, that affects these animals neurologically. I know my dogs have gone crazy at times from smelling certain things, but never suicidal (only my birds do this in there water bowls).

You would think it was a smell if its all ones with the same type of nose. But what could be there for 50 years, and at yin side only, that no-one has found yet?

Maybe they were just completely sick of the toon lol

reply to post by niblo


Yes perhaps you are right.. Maybe there are just lots of depressed dogs in the area...
kx

They said that a bacon scented squirrel lived on that side of the bridge, a genetic defect to that squirrels family line.

Apparently they were black squirrels.

Originally posted by ArcAngel
They said that a bacon scented squirrel lived on that side of the bridge, a genetic defect to that squirrels family line.

Apparently they were black squirrels.

What is this? Youtube?

I was thinking optical illusions or something along those lines too and also read somewhere that the scent of Mink could be the cause but its still just too weird.

ok i tired an experiment i put some gravey and dog food in a bowl perched on a ledge off my cliff. Put my dog on a long rope and showed him the food. He never went anywhere near trying to risk his life to get to the food.. He is a collie and i guess collies are not stupid dogs.. all the same i dont think it would work even with a dim dog. Them cliffs are 100-200 foot down. No dog is gona be that stupid.

The better the sent the more the dog can smell the drop. They know from sent direction strength and distance. They do not need to see the drop with their eyes because they can see it with their nose.

From a Shamans view:

Dogs walk the thin line between worlds. They live both in this one and in the world of spirit/afterlife.

Certain areas of the world has what is called the thinning of the veil. This being the veil between this world and "otherworld".

I think those dogs (hounds are hunters....they exclusively deal with and understand death, they "see" lifeforce) sense the thinness of the veil at that place and decide to cross over.

Originally posted by LoneGunMan
The better the sent the more the dog can smell the drop. They know from sent direction strength and distance. They do not need to see the drop with their eyes because they can see it with their nose.

From a Shamans view:

Dogs walk the thin line between worlds. They live both in this one and in the world of spirit/afterlife.

Certain areas of the world has what is called the thinning of the veil. This being the veil between this world and "otherworld".

I think those dogs (hounds are hunters....they exclusively deal with and understand death, they "see" lifeforce) sense the thinness of the veil at that place and decide to cross over.

So maybe the dogs are sensing some kind of paranormal stuff then..
That is possible my dog sees stuff sometimes that i cant see, i know he does you can tell by ther way he moves and reacts..

kx

Dog person here too. I'm thinking it could be an optical illusion that only dogs are prone to? Like cats have a problem seeing water for example. Maybe there is something that dogs have a problem seeing too?

Originally posted by PsykoOps
Dog person here too. I'm thinking it could be an optical illusion that only dogs are prone to? Like cats have a problem seeing water for example. Maybe there is something that dogs have a problem seeing too?

yes i dont know the mind of a dog too well, but for a human an optical illusion is not going to make u clamber over a wall and jump in the river..
but u mght be right... who knows the mind of a dog...

xk

Maybe to them it just looks like there is something they need to jump over? Like an obstacle. Illusion of depth perception kind. That combined with something tempting like a smell would explain alot. Our old lab used to smell fresh meat delivery to a supermarket 5km away from it so the smell wouldn't have to be close.

Originally posted by purplemer
I watched a video on it two. I think it leaves too many open varibles. Dog are not stupid. I could hang a tonne of prime beef from the side of the cliff. My dogs not gona jump over and get it. He values his life.
thank you for reply i thought this thread was dead in the water so to speak...

kx

My brother's dog almost killed himself by jumping off a bridge after a stick his friend threw. We didn't think the dog would jump but it did. Hurt himself real bad too and was never the same.

Just saying...dogs are like people. Some are smart but most are just dumb animals.

reply to post by Nutter


ok i stand corrected, i was judging other dogs by my own one, evidenlty like humans some dogs are dim wits..

kx

I found some weird info:

Dogs are known for their strong affection feelings, and stories with suicidal dogs abound. Dogs grown together get so bound one to each other, that often do not survive to the loss of one of them. One owner had an airdale and a fox-terrier, who were always hanging together.

One day, the fox-terrier was crashed by a car a

Dogs are known for their strong affection feelings, and stories with suicidal dogs abound. Dogs grown together get so bound one to each other, that often do not survive to the loss of one of them. One owner had an airdale and a fox-terrier, who were always hanging together.

One day, the fox-terrier was crashed by a car and died. The owner buried it in the garden. The playful airdale changed its behavior, did not leave the tomb, refused food, and was haunting like a phantom during the night like looking for its friend. Few days later, the airdale was found dead next to the tomb of its friend.

But this attachment of the dogs is also applied to their human masters. This story occurred in Rome: the owner of Shastra, a Spanish cockerel, died. When the corpse was pulled out of the house, the dog tossed itself from the third level. It just broke one leg. It was brought to the veterinarian but once again home, the pulled out itself from the leash and threw itself again.

This time it died. Perhaps, the places in which the dog played so many times with its master could have recalled the dog such painful records that it could not resist and suicided.

This case occurred in Ostiglia (also Italy): Franz, a German shepherd dog, was laying on the railways line, near the railway station. Workers always chased away with stones the dog, but soon after the dog returned, and one day, the dog met with the Verona-Bologna train...

Franz had lost his master, condemned two weeks before to one year in jail. Since she had disappeared, the animal refused food, haunting through the city, like a suffering soul missing a beloved one.

nd died. The owner buried it in the garden. The playful airdale changed its behavior, did not leave the tomb, refused food, and was haunting like a phantom during the night like looking for its friend. Few days later, the airdale was found dead next to the tomb of its friend.

I guess animals could react this way I had two rabbits both born around the same time. I moved and only took the two. Years later when one died the other died 1 week later. They were in perfect health the first one just died of old age.
As for a mass suicide this seems to be more an issue of some environmental factor like the smell of something.

I have no idea what happened to the ex-text in this post!

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