Girt dog of Ennerdale

The dog was first observed by Thornholme resident Mr Mossop on 10 May 1810, and began killing and eating local sheep shortly afterwards.[3] Its origins are uncertain, although it was speculated that the dog had escaped from "some gipsy troop."[3] The dog was a mongrel,[3] variously described as a "large, brindled, tiger-striped dog"[2] and "a smooth haired dog of a tawny mouse-colour, with dark streaks in tiger-fashion over its hide."[3] Some suggested it may have been a cross between a mastiff and a greyhound.[3] One witness, Will Rotherby, who was knocked down by the beast, described it as lion-like.[4]

The Girt Dog of Ennerdale would usually kill livestock at night.[3] At the height of its killing spree, it killed seven or eight sheep in a single night,[3] sometimes devouring its victims while they were still alive.[3] According to one account, the dog would drink the sheep's blood directly from the jugular vein.[3] Throughout its killing spree, the dog was "never known to utter a vocal sound".[3] Although local residents would often chase the Girt Dog with their own hounds, these pursuits always proved fruitless and the dog usually returned to killing sheep within a few days.[3] Residents tried to lure the Girt Dog within shooting distance using bitches in heat, but without success.[3] Poisoning, too, was also attempted, but abandoned to avoid accidentally poisoning the locals' own dogs.[3] As the Girt Dog continued to evade hunters, it became a popular topic of conversation in Ennerdale and Kinniside, and newspapers reported its movements.[3] The dog was nicknamed the "Worrying Dog of Ennerdale".[3]

Willy Jackson, a resident of Swinside, saw the Girt Dog 30 yards (27 m) away, urinating on a thistle, but his rifle shot missed.[3] John Russell, who owned a brewery in Whitehaven and a sheep farm in Ennerdale, offered a £10 reward for the dog's capture, dead or alive.[3] One morning in July 1810, 200 men and their hounds hunted Girt Dog over the Kinniside dells, but the day-long pursuit was unsuccessful.[3] On another occasion, a hunting party passed by the Ennerdale church during a Sunday morning service, leading many male churchgoers, and possibly even the Reverend Mr Ponsonby, to abandon the congregation and join the hunt.[3] Anthony Atkinson spotted the Girt Dog resting beside a grassy hedge; he struck it with three bullets but could not bring it down.[3]

On 12 September 1810, the dog was finally shot and killed by John Steel, a resident of Asby.[3] Its carcass weighed 8 imperial stones (51 kg).[3]

Following the dog's death, the mass sheep killings in the region stopped.[3] Until the late 1800s, the animal's taxidermied skin was on display in the Hutton's Museum at Keswick, Cumbria.[2][3]