The Hannibal Lecter of the dog world has been killed

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A wild dog that has eluded capture for six years, all the while killing and maiming sheep, has been shot dead on a property west of Scone.

When the news of trapper Jonathan Randle’s success in destroying the legendary dog was shared with landholder Norm Black at Sofia Hill, he cried tears of joy.

Mr Black’s life has been a constant torment since the wild dog moved onto his 2100 acre property back in 2011.

Since his arrival Mr Black, who turns 80 next month, has witnessed the destruction of 500 of his 15 micron, fine wool sheep, worth a conservative $50,000, not including the value of their wool.

“In 2011, I lost 120 60 kilogram wethers thanks to this dog and no matter what we did we couldn’t catch him,” Mr Black said.

“He was so cunning and was always a loner never once did we see him with another dog.

“And he really just stayed on our property mainly on the land I lease from Forestry Corporation – even if he went through other farms he didn’t seem to attack their sheep, only mine and always the older ones.”

For Mr Black the relief that his tormentor is gone is truly unbelievable.

“I am just so happy I can’t thank Jonathan enough for all his work,” he said.

“This dog had made my life a living hell.”

Hunter Local Land Services senior biosecurity officer Richard Ali described the dog as a Hannibal Lecter, referring to the serial killer character made famous in the 1991 Silence of the Lambs movie.

“He was one horrible piece of work. He was a big, strong, wild dog capable of getting the bigger sheep down and surgically removing their kidneys, only their kidneys and then letting them go and the sheep would run off and eventually bleed to death,” Mr Ali said.

“But it took hours for the sheep to die. This is not normally how dogs kill and attack sheep.”

Mr Ali said over the years the baiting increased, both on the ground and aerial, but nothing could stop him.

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