The scene is Scotland, the administrative center of Dumbarton, the vicinity of the village of Milton, the Overtown estate. In 1859, a certain James White bought the territory near the above village and laid the castle. It took three years to build, after which the White family settled there
In 1884 the first owners departed to another world, and their place was taken by grateful descendants. His son James was busy with increasing the inheritance, for which he negotiated with a local pastor. As a result, a certain part was separated from the church territory and added to the Whites estate.
And since the new lands were separated from the old ones by a waterfall with a river, it was necessary to build the culprit of future dog suicides - the Overtown Bridge. This is where the backstory ends and the story begins.
After the construction of the bridge, the estate passed from hand to hand many times until it turned out to be in the hands of the municipalities, and today there are courses for education, support and other social programs. But the bridge - it clearly does not fit into the fine-looking profile of the establishment. It all started around 1950-60, when the dogs of local residents regularly, once a month, jumped from the bridge down, and the long-faced breeds were more susceptible to flying.
For most of the dogs, the fall ended tragically (15 meters in height), but surprisingly different - some of the surviving animals repeatedly jumped from the bridge in the same place. It was this fact of repetition that caused the utmost surprise of the inhabitants of Milton, because it is known that dogs have a strong instinct for self-preservation and remember well the places of personal tragedies.
The man in the street is a subtle nature and responsive to any nasty dregs. As soon as the news of dog suicides spread around the neighborhood, a legend immediately appeared about a father who allegedly threw his young child off this bridge under the pretext that the child was a creation of the devil. According to legend, a few days later, the father committed suicide in the same way at the same place. And so, the average man thinks, the spirit of an innocently murdered child plays with the dogs, urging them to jump off the bridge, and the animals, not suspecting a catch, succumb to provocations.
The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals could not help but pay attention to the Overtown anomaly and sent representatives to investigate the bridge, the waterfall and the entire area. The representatives did everything according to the procedure, but found nothing. True, no one really wanted to report to the authorities about spirits and otherworldly delirium, so the representatives continued to explore the territory until they found minks, harmlessly settled on the slopes of the river near the bridge.
Representatives put forward a version: minks have such a strong odor that they drive dogs to suicide. More precisely, they lead to accidents - dogs, smelling the smell, believe that the mink is close, jump out on the handrails, slip and fall down. The mink version was tested with many dogs, who were indeed more supportive of their smell than others. This was reflected in the representatives' report and today is the official version of canine suicides on the Overtown Bridge.
Both versions seem implausible, it remains to wait for some other commission to arrive and finally find the truth, but for now it is too early to put an end to this story. Dogs still jump today.
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