Two XL Bullies will be destroyed after a poodle was killed in front of its owner.

The dangerous dogs will be put down after one of them violently “shook” the dog leaving “blood everywhere” on Saturday.

Sussex Police confirmed that the dogs’ owner had agreed for them to be put down following the attack.

A witness to the attack in Patcham told how there was “blood everywhere” after the dog was mauled, describing it as “like a rag on the floor”.

They added: “It immediately grabbed her dog and shook it. She [the owner] desperately tried to get it off. I started to shout saying ‘whose dog is this?’. After a minute, which felt like forever, a man came out and tried to remove the dog from this smaller dog.

“It was horrendous, there was blood everywhere. He got the dog off but another slightly larger dog then appeared and also attacked the small dog.”

A spokesman for the force said they were called to Mackie Avenue in Brighton on Saturday evening and said the poodle's owner suffered minor injuries.

The force confirmed that the owner of the XL Bullies had agreed to their destruction and that the dogs were currently being held in a secure kennel.