Overtoun House - Dog Deaths at Overtoun Bridge

Dog Deaths At Overtoun Bridge

Studies have shown that since the 1950s or 1960s numerous dogs have leaped from the bridge at the rate of about one dog a month. Dogs that leap over the bridge parapet fall 50 feet (15 m) onto the waterfalls below. Some dogs that survived this drop, and were then taken back to the bridge, have also jumped again. The only linking factors for this unexplained event are that dogs mostly jump from the same side of the bridge, in clear weather, and they are breeds with long snouts.

As the unexplained phenomenon received international media attention, the Scottish SPCA sent an animal habitat expert to investigate the causes as to why dogs kill themselves at Overtoun Bridge. Initially Dr David Sands examined sight, smell and sound factors. After eliminating what a dog could potentially see and hear on the bridge, he eventually focused on scent following the discovery of mice and mink in undergrowth on the side of the bridge from which dogs often leaped. In a test, the odours from these animals were spread around an open field. Ten dogs were unleashed - representing the commonest breeds that jumped off the bridge. Of the dogs tested, only two showed no interest in any of the scents while nearly all the others made straight for the mink scent. Sands concluded that, although it was not a definitive answer, the potent odour from male mink urine was luring keen-nosed dogs to their deaths.