Do Animals "Commit Suicide"? 



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mysterious dread and disappointment, causes 

 mortal illness, but there is no evidence the dog 

 foresees or intends a fatal result. In the other 

 class of cases, the idea of remaining with a 

 master, danger or no danger, or of defending 

 him, as if it were itself attacked, is so strong 

 in a good dog as to overcome timidity and pru- 

 dence. 



Something different from this is needed as 

 evidence of intentional suicide; and when the 

 incidents alleged to furnish such further evi- 

 dence are examined, they are always, so far as 

 has come to my knowledge, found wanting. 

 Here, for an instance, is one published in Notes 

 and Queries during 1898. An English gentle- 

 man, who owned a small terrier, was obliged to 

 go to the Continent for his health, and after a 

 few weeks died. When the news of his death 

 came the dog seemed to understand what had 

 happened, " and shared the grief of the family 

 to such an overwhelming extent that one day it 

 went to an upper window and jumped out, kill- 

 ing itself in a very distressing way." Any one 

 considering this narrative a moment may see 



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