http://www.billingsgazette.com/index...ridge-dogs.inc
Saw a story on "Fox News" about this, here's an internet writeup.
MILTON, Scotland - Donna Cooper still has no idea why her normally obedient border collie, Ben, leaped to his death this spring off a tall rural bridge in Milton without any warning or apparent rationale.
"Ben's feet never touched the wall," she said, referring to the waist-high, 18-inch-thick barrier that has been hurdled - inexplicably and with a near certainty of death - by scores of dogs during the past three decades. "He just went straight over."
Maybe it's the whistle of the wind from distant Loch Lomond, or the fabled "white lady" who is said to haunt an adjacent mansion or the rustle of tree branches next to a nearby waterfall.
Fall kills most dogs
Nobody knows for sure, but something strange is causing dogs to jump off the Overtoun Estate bridge, west of Glasgow, at an alarming rate. Most are killed by the 60-foot fall or are so severely injured that veterinarians must put them to sleep. Others have survived, only to come back and try again.
The mystery has prompted investigations by an animal behaviorist and the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Even a group of paranormal researchers visited recently. None has found a plausible explanation.
"Dogs don't commit suicide. People do," said Joyce Stuart, a professional animal behaviorist with 16 years of experience. "Dogs are survivors, born survivors. Everything dogs do is for a reason. ... They're not stupid like we are."
So why, she asks, have dogs been leaping off the bridge at rates reportedly as high as one per month during the past 20 or 30 years?
The bridge itself provides few clues. Built in the 1890s, the one-lane span arches over a leafy ravine and waterfall. Several semicircular alcoves jut outward from the walls at 20-foot intervals.
An athletic dog might be tempted to jump onto the wall to view surrounding woodlands. Cooper said she thinks maybe Ben was searching for her toddler daughter, who was hiding in one of the alcoves at the time.
Bridge within estate
The bridge lies within the grounds of the 85-acre Overtoun Estate. The name has been traced back to the 14th century in reference to a large tract of pastureland near Loch Lomond.
Built in the 1860s by industrialist James White, the mansion fell into disrepair during the Depression. For 22 years, it was a maternity hospital.
Then it was occupied by a succession of Christian missionary groups.
Bob Hill, a Christian missionary from Fort Worth, Texas, is renovating the mansion to provide a retreat for inner-city youth. He said at least three frantic dog owners have knocked on his door asking for help after their dogs jumped off the bridge. Nevertheless, he contends that such incidents are being exaggerated by the news media.
Dogs may be distracted
Hill thinks the dogs are distracted by the waterfall or by the many gray squirrels that frolic along the bridge. His own two dogs have never been tempted to jump, he said.
As proprietor of the estate, Hill said he has become acutely aware of the international attention surrounding his bridge.
"I got a call from a friend of mine in Alabama a while back," Hill said. "He said: 'Bob, you're not going to believe this. You've got dogs jumping off your bridge committing suicide.' "
Hill smiled broadly, then frowned as he noticed that none of the other investigators appreciated his attempt at humor.
Stuart ignored his remarks, continuing to peer into the abyss below in search of an answer.
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