A Staffordshire bull terrier is under threat of a death sentence after it viciously attacked another dog.

The terrier, named Summer, injured the Pyrenean mountain dog so badly that it had to be put down.

Brighton and Hove City Council now wants magistrates to order the terrier's destruction.

It is the first time the council has used the law to apply for a destruction order.

The dog was seized by police and animal welfare officers on October 17 and is currently in secure kennels.

Owner Christopher Holmes, 18, wants his pet to be given another chance.

Holmes, of Percival Terrace, Brighton, admitted before Brighton magistrates that his dog was dangerous and out of control at The Gallops, near Brighton Racecourse, on the evening of September 15.

But he opposed an application by the city council for his pet to be destroyed.

The case was adjourned until December 5, when magistrates will decide whether Summer should live or die.

Len Batten, prosecuting for the city council, said: "The attack was extremely vicious and went on for about five minutes, with this dog savaging the other dog's tongue.

"Throughout the whole ordeal the dog was helpless and defenceless and was yelping."

The court heard Nick McClelland, the owner of the Pyrenean, was walking his dog when the bull terrier, which was not on a lead, attacked without warning.

Holmes and his uncle tried to get Summer to let go and the teenager even put his fingers in his pet's anus in an attempt to make it let go.

Holmes then started strangling his dog and it finally released its grip.

He immediately drove away with Summer. Mr McClelland wrote down the car's registration and Holmes was later traced.

After the hearing Holmes said he believed the city council was being unfair. He said he wanted the magistrates to let Summer live with his mother.

He described his dog as having an "evil streak" as it attacked another dog in the past but he denied it was a danger to people.

He said: "The only thing my dog would do to any human is to lick them to death.

"I know it is a horrible thing that happened but I don't see why my dog should be put down because she killed another dog. If a human being murders another human they are not killed."

Mr McClelland, who lives in Woodingdean, said he believed the dog was dangerous.

He said: "I would hate to see the dog destroyed but if the owner had been responsible it would never have happened. The attack was horrendous and I was amazed at how savage it was. It was like a shark in a feeding frenzy."