Dogs Thrown Into Pits

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Dogs Thrown Into Pits

Postby cavemanjonny » Jan 1, 2008 5:01 pm

Some psychopath keeps on throwing dogs into pits on Fox Mountain (Dade County, Georgia). It has been going on for years now. Every few months, some unlucky caver will find some unlucky dog at the bottom of a pit. It is extremely unlikely that these are random occurrences. There have been at least 3 dogs thrown into two pits in the last 3 months. One dog survived (40 foot fall), two didn't (90-ish foot fall?). A number of living dogs have been rescued over the years, in fact. Which brings up the most disturbing aspect of the whole thing. The dogs are alive when they are tossed in.

There are also plenty of other pits on the mountain that aren't visited as frequently as these two pits. There could very well be more dogs at the bottom of these other pits that haven't been found.

So, any suggestion as to how to catch whoever is doing this? Infrared game cameras have been suggested. Any other ideas?
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Re: Dogs Thrown Into Pits

Postby wendy » Jan 1, 2008 5:37 pm

ya i read that story about the puppy rescue at rusty's over on TAGNet. poor puppy, glad he is safe now. Come to think of it, i went to Rusty's several years ago and there was a dead dog skeleton at the bottom.

Has anyone reported this to the local deputies and animal control? Maybe they can step up patrol in the area. Also isn't there a man that lives in the area near the culvert by Hurricane? I talked to him before, friendly guy, maybe he wouldn't mind keeping a look out. Maybe get some animal groups to sponsor a reward for finding the guy doing this.
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Re: Dogs Thrown Into Pits

Postby mgmills » Jan 1, 2008 5:39 pm

jprouty wrote:Some psychopath keeps on throwing dogs into pits on Fox Mountain (Dade County, Georgia). It has been going on for years now. Every few months, some unlucky caver will find some unlucky dog at the bottom of a pit. It is extremely unlikely that these are random occurrences. There have been at least 3 dogs thrown into two pits in the last 3 months. One dog survived (40 foot fall), two didn't (90-ish foot fall?). A number of living dogs have been rescued over the years, in fact. Which brings up the most disturbing aspect of the whole thing. The dogs are alive when they are tossed in.

There are also plenty of other pits on the mountain that aren't visited as frequently as these two pits. There could very well be more dogs at the bottom of these other pits that haven't been found.

So, any suggestion as to how to catch whoever is doing this? Infrared game cameras have been suggested. Any other ideas?



I've heard the theory of someone throwing the dogs in many times over the years. Personally, I question that theroy. It could happen but in my opinion is not the most likely explanation.

My personal theory is more that it is related to the location of the parking spot. The parking spot is in a fairly populated area. Wandering dogs (that area is pretty rural and lots of dogs run free) probably frequent the parking spot looking for food scraps dropped by cavers. The dogs pick up the human scent at the parking spot and follow it on the very well worn trails to the pit entrances. Both of these entrances are pretty much right at trail side. The dogs follow the human scent to the pit and fall in. Rusty's pit is the most frequent one and I can see how it could happen. The area around the hole has practically no slope and the dog just steps off the edge. I suspect that fewer dogs are found at Cemetary due to the more sloping entrance.

I could be wrong but the fact that it has been an "issue" for many years leads me to believe that if someone has thrown a dog in it is probably not the work of a single person. A person would have to be pretty dedicated to do it year after year. If someone wanted to harm a dog they could do it with a lot less effort than walking up the hill to the pits.

For the record, I have seen dog skeletons in several pits aroung TAG. Dogs don't have the reasoning skills of people. That is why I don't take my dogs with me to bounce pits or cliffs. I have on a couple of occassions led people to pits with my dogs on a (short) leash but it always makes me nervous.

Just my opinion and theory. I know many agree with Jonny's therory
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Re: Dogs Thrown Into Pits

Postby cavemanjonny » Jan 2, 2008 6:01 pm

mgmills wrote:My personal theory is more that it is related to the location of the parking spot. The parking spot is in a fairly populated area. Wandering dogs (that area is pretty rural and lots of dogs run free) probably frequent the parking spot looking for food scraps dropped by cavers. The dogs pick up the human scent at the parking spot and follow it on the very well worn trails to the pit entrances.


This is certainly a possibility. I have a few questions though:

  • Why would dogs follow the human scent left by cavers going to pits off in the woods when the dogs could much more easily visit any number of houses that would, in my mind, scream "food" much more than the trail to the pits would. Rising Fawn seems like a much more likely target for a stray than Fox Mountain.
  • How come dogs are found so frequently in Fox Mountain pits when compared to other caving areas? I would guess that at least 5 or 6 dogs are found in Fox Mountain pits every year. Can other areas with a similar pit density and level of activity claim such a thing?
  • If Rising Fawn has an inordinately large population of stray dogs, I would expect a large number of dogs to turn up dead, in general, not just at the bottom of pits. Does anyone know if Rising Fawn has an especially large amount of strays?

Without evidence that would suggest otherwise, I think that some individual being responsible for the dogs deaths is the most likely explanation. However, perhaps there is something that can be done in the meantime to determine whether the deaths are accidental. I wonder who is responsible for picking up strays in Rising Fawn? They would probably be able to answer some of the above questions.
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