Mystery behind Dumbarton dog 'suicide' bridge where 50 animals died finally 'revealed'

The mystery of a bridge from which dozens of dogs have leaped to their deaths has been "solved" by a pastor.

It's thought that as many as 600 canines have plummeted off Overtoun Bridge in Dumbarton , with 50 dogs thought to have died from the fall.

The bizarre trend of tragedies has raised eyebrows since the 1950s - with many coming up with their own theories behind the phenomenon.

But now, a Texan pastor who lives in a nearby manor claims to have solved the mystery once and for all, as the Mirror reports.

Bob Hill believes the smell of small animals sends the dogs into a frenzy (Creative Commons)

 

Bob Hill believes the four-legged friends are being sent into a frenzy by the smell of animals below the gorge, causing them to hurl themselves off the 15 metre structure.

Mr 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.”

The pastor runs a local centre for women in crisis and, since moving into Overtoun House with his wife 20 years ago, has seen a number of dogs tumble onto the rocks below.

Others are not convinced by the small mammal theory however.

Others believe a ghostly presence in the nearby manor is to blame for the dog deaths at Overtoun Bridge (Creative Commons)

 

Religion and philosophy teacher Paul Owens first came to the bridge 40 years ago and has spent more than a decade attempting to work outs its secret.

In his book 'The Baron of Rainbow Bridge'- which features two superimposed canines leaping off the structure as a top-hatted man looks on on its covert - Mr Owens argues ghosts are to blame.

Specifically The White Lady of Overtoun, the often-sighted ghost of a local woman who died in 1908 and never got over the death of her husband.

Paul Owens thinks The White Lady of Overtoun is to blame for the high dog death toll (Creative Commons)

 

Another man who has done a lot of research is David Sands.

The animal behaviourist ruled out the possibility that dogs were deliberately killing themselves, instead showing that long-nosed species were more easily drawn to animal scents below the bridge.

He theorized that the dogs’ limited perspective, their ignorance that the path changes from level ground to a bridge spanning a deep gorge and the smells wafting through the air probably enticed the dogs to jump.