What is the ‘Dog Suicide Bridge - and why are dogs jumping to their deaths in Scotland?

Locals and experts alike are unable to explain why a bridge in Dumbarton is causing dogs to feel urged to jump over the sides and face the 50 foot drop.

Over the past seventy years, as many as fifty dogs have jumped to their deaths from a bridge near Dumbarton, just six miles from Clydebank.

Overtoun bridge, colloquially called the ‘Dog Suicide Bridge’, is a B-listed structure near Overtoun House in West Dunbartonshire, it finished construction in 1895.

Since as early as the 1950s pet owners have reported their dogs either falling or jumping from the bridge, often resulting in serious injury and death on landing on the rocks 50 feet below.

In 2004, Kenneth Meikle was walking with his family and Golden Retriever, when the dog suddenly bolted and jumped off the bridge.

The next year in 2005, at least five other dogs jumped over the course of six months.

All dogs that jump from the bridge jump in the same direction, all have long snouts and most jump between the last two parapets and on hot days.

In 2014, Alice Trevorrow, who was walking with her springer spaniel named Cassie, reported a strange experience on Overtoun Bridge.

In the book Unsolved Enigmas released in 2019 by Sam Pilgir and Leo Moynihan, Alice Trevorrow told the authors:"I had parked up and as she is so obedient I didn’t put her lead on.

“Me and my son walked toward Cassie, who was staring at something above the bridge... she definitely saw something that made her jump.

“There is something sinister going on. It was so out of character for her."

Also in the book local teacher, Paul Owens, argues that the bridge and nearby Overtoun House are haunted by supernatural activity.

Overtoun House itself is plagued by rumours of ghost sightings - as believers claim the estate to be haunted by the ‘White Lady of Overtoun’ the ghost of the wife of former estate owner John White.

Several theories have been proposed surrounding the bridge, ranging from the supernatural to the rational, although none have been confirmed to be true.

He claims that dogs and other animals are sensitive to such supernatural activity, so he proposes that dark spirits are responsible for luring dogs to their deaths.

This is a commonly held belief by locals and internet theorists alike, exemplified by the actions of one man in October 1994.

Kevin Moy threw his two-week-old son, Eoghan, to his death from the bridge as he believed that his son was an incarnation of the devil. He chose the site as he believed the land around Overtoun House and bridge had an association with dark spirits from pagan times.

Following his act of murder, Moy then attempted to commit suicide several times by jumping off the bridge and slashing his wrists, but he was detained and placed in Carstairs psychiatric hospital.

On the less supernatural and demonic side of things, several more down-to-earth theories have been suggested.

In 2014, canine psychologist David Sands suggested that the foliage around the bridge gives the dogs the impression that there is flat-ground below the bridge, and they are drawn to the scent of the residual odour from male mink urine in the area.

A local hunter and resident of 50 years disagreed with this theory however, as he decisively said there were ‘no mink in the area’.

Contradicting the hunters statement however is a later investigation by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which found that the one end of the bridge reportedly favoured by passing dogs contained nests of mice, squirrels, and minks.

However, The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals investigated the bridge and surrounding area, but none of their findings proved conclusive.

In 2019, the owners of Overtoun House, Bob and Melissa Hill told The New York Times they had seen a number of dogs jump from the bridge.

Bob himself posited the cause to the scent of mink, pine martens, and other animals agitated the dogs and caused them to jump from the bridge.

Bob Hill, told The New York Times: "The dogs catch the scent of mink, pine martens or some other mammal and then they will jump up on the wall of the bridge. And because it’s tapered, they will just topple over."

Despite this statement, Hill, originally a pastor from Texas, also stated his belief that the grounds of the House held some sort of spiritual quality.