Do animals ever commit suicide?

Question

A programme last night investigated whether dogs were committing suicide by jumping off a bridge but the conclusion was that they were chasing scents.
The issue was also raised in that famous episode of The Royale Family where Dave claimed his mum and dad's dog had committed suicide by jumping off a balcony.
We all know animals have a range of emotions similar to humans so is it possible an animal will commit suicide if it's depressed enough?

OK, so we're agreed on Lemmings but what about dogs, horses, giraffes.....etc. etc.

Answer 1

My dog talks about it all the time but I don't think he'll really ever go through with it.

Answer 2

I don't think that dogs commit suicide because I don't think that they understand that they can change their future by their own actions.

I also don't think they have any concept of death although I appreciate they have a strong instinct towards self preservation.

I do think that they can become depressed either as the result of an emotional trauma like losing a human or canine companion or because of illness.

I didn't watch the end of last night's programme because I could see where it was going. I know of several instances where dogs have jumped off high places.

One dog jumped off the pub roof where it have lived for years and broke a leg. Another one jumped over the wall of a multi-storey car park and was killed. Another one jumped off a cliff chasing sea birds but fortunately the tide was in and he could swim otherwise he would have been killed landing on the rocks.

None of these dogs were depressed - they were all excited and just being dogs. We are always hearing about dogs falling over cliffs or being hit by cars but we don't think they do it deliberately - they don't fling themselves under cars to end their lives.

If I lived near that bridge I would do what I always do if I am near something or somewhere that might endanger my dogs' lives - I put them on the lead.

I've been told that no dog is stupid enough to jump off a bridge or cliff or whatever when I've done this in the past but even though they are bright, intelligent and well trained I don't trust them enough to find out.

A severely depressed dog is more likely to lose interest in everything and spend most of its time either sleeping or lying down and staring at nothing. It will stop eating and drinking and unless it is helped it might eventually die. People will say that the dog wanted to die. I would say that they lose the will to live which is different.

Depression in dogs can be treated and most dogs will make a full recovery. I have seen one of my own dogs become severely depressed when her lifelong companion died and I have also seen depression in one of the dogs who was very ill. The first recovered with time and the other with treatment for the illness. Both needed TLC!

Answer 3

My grandad was convinced that his dog ended its own life. The whole family had been visiting and we all left at the same time, his dog, Sweep, disapeared soon after we left and was run down. The driver of the car was a family friend and maintained that Sweep waited at the side of the road until the car was almost passing and jumped out onto the road, standing in the cars path. I don't think if the driver was trying to excuse the accident, or if my grandfather was trying to make sence of what happened but, as a family, we do believe that Sweep was very distressed at us all leaving. I was only 12 at the time and it made perfect sense. I'm sure animals feel a whole range of emotions but, as an adult, i'm not totally convinced they would understand the concept of death

Answer 4

lemmings die by falling over cliffs or drowning in lakes or rivers.

These deaths are not deliberate "suicide" attempts!!!!

But accidental deaths resulting from the lemmings' venturing into unfamiliar territories and being crowded and pushed over dangerous ledges.

In fact, when the competition for food, space, or mates becomes too intense, lemmings are much more likely to kill each other than to kill themselves...

When animals like dogs are badly hurt...they can refuse to eat,so can other animals...that is to speed up thier dying.

NO animals do not commit suicide....if something happens to a dog or cats owner..at times the animal can react?...but They do not have the need to do things like humans.They are very one minded...They most certainly if depressed stop eating or drinking...and that causes death...But no suicide.

Answer 5

Well, there's lemmings... but there's a bit of a controversy over that. Seems as though the documentary where lemmings were first observed "committing suicide" may have been staged by the filmmakers. So honestly, beyond that controversial example, I don't really know.

Answer 6

No, no and no. Did you watch the whole of the programme? Animals do not have a thought process like that. What next? Cats slashing their wrists with their claws?

The popular footage of lemmings jumping off a cliff was down to the camera crew scaring them not because they were involved in a 'Waco' style mass suicide. F*cking hell are you people really so dumb?

Answer 7

Lemmings do! there was a program on last night about the bog suicide bridge near Dumbarton where more than 50 dogs have jumped to there death since 1950's. All of the same side. Wanted to watch it but I forgot !!!!!!

Answer 8

It is a myth that Lemmings commit suicide. They fall off the edges of ravines when they are migrating en masse.

Some animals stop eating when they are miserable. But that would only be suicide if they knew it was going to kill them.

Answer 9

I have this image of a dog, sitting in its kennel, poster of Kurt Cobain inside, Nirvana playing on the stereo. The dog's dressed up like a Goth, and it's toying with a shotgun ...

:-D

In nature, there are examples of animals deliberately willing themselves to die. Fertilised cuttlefish females will sequester themselves in a hole with their eggs, and refuse to eat, hunt or sleep. In the end, exhausted and starving, they die, and their bodies provide the first meal for the emerging cuttlefish larvae.

Same goes for several species of insects and arachnids.

So it can be said that some animal species do commit suicide. But that's only as a conclusion to their natural lives.

Answer 10

I have heard of dogs refusing to eat and subsequently dying after the death of their owner or after being sold etc. Whether this constitutes a decisive action to end a life or merely the effect of deep depression is probably beyond proof.

Answer 11

In fact, the behavior of lemmings is much the same as that of many other rodents which have periodic population booms and then disperse in all directions, seeking the food and shelter that their natural habitat cannot provide. (The Australian Long-haired Rat is one example.) The actual reason for their 'suicide' deaths is because lemmings have poor eyesight and cannot distinguish a small river, which they can easily cross, from a fjord, in which they will almost surely drown.