Overtoun Bridge
The small picturesque town of West Durbanshire, Scotland is home to a stately manor named Overtoun House. The beautiful 19th century house and grounds are stunning but have a horrific reputation for a potentially supernatural phenomenon that has cause injury to over 600 dogs and the death of around 50. The Overtaun Bridge leading over a gorge and up to the driveway of the house is known locally as the ‘Dog Suicide Bridge’. When many dogs have crossed the bridge they have been compelled by some unseen force to jump off of it, sometimes leading to their death. What could possibly be causing these horrific accidents?
The ornate Victorian bridge was built in 1895 by a wealthy industrialist named James White. It is made up of three archways and spans a small river at the bottom of a deep gorge. The area is quiet and leafy green and some Scot’s say it is a place where the veil between worlds is thin. Some believe it may be an unhappy spirit luring the dogs to their deaths or perhaps the spirit of a child who wants the dogs to come play with them in the spirit world. Overtoun house itself is said to be haunted by the “White Lady of Overtoun”suspected to be the grieving widow of John White, James’ son. After John passed away in 1908 his widow lived alone in the house for 30 years never remarrying. Many visitors to the manor and grounds report seeing a woman dressed in white walking around or standing in a window.
Animal psychologists have studied the bridge to try to get to the bottom of this phenomenon. They have concluded that the dogs are not intentionally trying to hurt themselves but are possibly catching a scent of some mammals from under the bridge and trying to find them. It is more often dogs with long snouts jumping off of the bridge which might lend itself to this theory. Experiments have been conducted that show many dogs react aggressively when exposed to mink urine as opposed to the urine of other small mammals. Perhaps there is a population of mink living around the bridge although the current tenants state they have never seen any mink in the area. Another point to mention is that it doesn’t appear that we there is a large drop down from the bridge due to the large amount of foliage and the narrowness of the gorge. Perhaps the dogs are unaware of the extent of the drop before they jump just assuming it to be only a metre or two. These explanations however don’t cover why this isn’t a common occurrence on other bridges in similar locations around the world.
Despite extensive research there seems to be no clear explanation as to why so many dogs jump to their deaths from Overtoun Bridge. All we can say for sure is be careful when walking on the Overtoun Grounds and make sure your dogs lead is very secure.