Dogs Committing Suicide (from the British Quarterly Review) 1872
Strangest and most suggestive of all the anecdotes recorded of dogs are the numerous histories of their drowning themselves, under conditions which almost compel us to class the act as voluntary and conscious suicide. Not long ago many newspapers copied a mournful story of a poor dog who was cruelly discarded in his old age by his master, and after ineffectual efforts to find shelter in another house, was seen deliberately to stand gazing at the rushing waters of the Loire, then painfully lift himself on his crippled limbs and leap into the stream. The spectator held out a stick to save him, but the beast gave him a look of despair, turned away his head, and floated down without an effort to save himself. Similar incidents are to be found in Jesse's "Anecdotes of Dogs" (p. 145), where we are told of the suicide of a handsome and valuable Newfoundland dog, belonging to Mr. Floyd, a solicitor at Holmfirth. The animal showed low spirits for some days, and then was seen to throw himself into the water, where he endeavoured to sink by keeping his legs perfectly still. Being dragged out, he returned time after time to the river, till at last he succeeded in keeping his head under water long enough to extinguish life. Mr. Nicol, of Pall Mall, told Mr. Jesse that he had likewise seen an old foxhound deliberately drown himself, and that he was ready to make oath of the fact. In the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" is another tale of canine suicide; and Mr. George Jesse (Researches, vol. i. p. 157) gives from an "original source" the account of a little Havana dog who drowned himself at Honfleur. It is hard to resist the conclusion that, if these tales be true, the creatures who thus acted both knew what death is, and also were able deliberately to decide that the short pain of death was better than the prolonged one of a miserable life. Even supposing the dog, however, to possess the very high mental faculties needed for such an argument, the further manifestation of deliberate will, powerful enough to conquer the natural clinging to life of all creatures, and to make the animal resolutely keep his head under water when a few strokes of his paws would save him, is most amazing. It is much to be wished that an anecdote of this class could be thoroughly sifted and verified.
Strangest and most suggestive of all the anecdotes recorded of dogs are the numerous histories of their drowning themselves, under conditions which almost compel us to class the act as voluntary and conscious suicide. Not long ago many newspapers copied a mournful story of a poor dog who was cruelly discarded in his old age by his master, and after ineffectual efforts to find shelter in another house, was seen deliberately to stand gazing at the rushing waters of the Loire, then painfully lift himself on his crippled limbs and leap into the stream. The spectator held out a stick to save him, but the beast gave him a look of despair, turned away his head, and floated down without an effort to save himself. Similar incidents are to be found in Jesse's "Anecdotes of Dogs" (p. 145), where we are told of the suicide of a handsome and valuable Newfoundland dog, belonging to Mr. Floyd, a solicitor at Holmfirth. The animal showed low spirits for some days, and then was seen to throw himself into the water, where he endeavoured to sink by keeping his legs perfectly still. Being dragged out, he returned time after time to the river, till at last he succeeded in keeping his head under water long enough to extinguish life. Mr. Nicol, of Pall Mall, told Mr. Jesse that he had likewise seen an old foxhound deliberately drown himself, and that he was ready to make oath of the fact. In the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" is another tale of canine suicide; and Mr. George Jesse (Researches, vol. i. p. 157) gives from an "original source" the account of a little Havana dog who drowned himself at Honfleur. It is hard to resist the conclusion that, if these tales be true, the creatures who thus acted both knew what death is, and also were able deliberately to decide that the short pain of death was better than the prolonged one of a miserable life. Even supposing the dog, however, to possess the very high mental faculties needed for such an argument, the further manifestation of deliberate will, powerful enough to conquer the natural clinging to life of all creatures, and to make the animal resolutely keep his head under water when a few strokes of his paws would save him, is most amazing. It is much to be wished that an anecdote of this class could be thoroughly sifted and verified.
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