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