A dog was stabbed 55 times and had its throat slit in a city park.

The animal's mutilated corpse was discovered in bushes at Wild Park, Moulsecoomb, Brighton.

Witnesses described seeing a man disappearing into the undergrowth with the pet before re-emerging alone and covered in blood.

The ferocity of the attack was such that the American Bull Terrier was almost decapitated.

Police described the animal as being "butchered".

Inspector Tony Pritchard, investigating officer for the RSPCA, said: "I can't comprehend what sort of person would carry out such an attack.

"In the nine years I have worked for the RSPCA I can't remember seeing such brutality towards an animal.

"There wasn't much left of the neck to examine. The dog had almost been decapitated."

The gruesome discovery was made yesterday lunch time following an anonymous phone call to police by a woman at about midday.

She told officers she had seen a man drag a dog into bushes.

Insp Pritchard said she told police the dog had bitten somebody other than the attacker.

A post mortem was carried out by a vet yesterday afternoon.

The dog had received 55 stab wounds, the majority were to the neck.

Six wounds were to the left side of the dog's chest. One stab wound had fractured a rib and the dogs thorax, the windpipe, had been slit.

Insp Pritchard said: "We estimate the knife used was a large kitchen knife, about ten centimetres long and four centimetres wide.

"The vet believes the cause of death was probably bleeding due to the massive trauma to the neck but it would have had difficulty breathing because of the damage to the thorax."

He said the dog was estimated to be one-year-old, weighed about 50 kilos and had a muscular build.

It was white all over except for black ear and eye.

The animal had bled so much the markings didn't not become clear until it had been washed.

Pictures too horrific to be printed in The Argus showed the bloodied animal with puncture marks to its side.

There are multiple slits to the throat.

Insp Pritchard said: "When I got to the park there was a tree stump covered in blood and drag marks to some bushes.

"It's not clear whether the dog was still alive when it was dragged into the bushes or whether it had been killed near to the tree stump.

"The tree stump wasn't completely hidden and people could have seen what happened."

He said it wasn't clear whether the attacker was the owner of the dog.

No weapon was found at the scene but a set keys were discovered by officers.

The dog was not microchipped or wearing a collar and its owner has not been traced.

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: "We were called to Wild Park following an anonymous call.

"Officers at the scene described the dog as having been butchered.

"The investigation has now been passed to the RSPCA."

This attack is the latest in a spate animal cruelty cases in Sussex this year.

A man appears in court later this month charged with fracturing the skull of his pet dog.

On October 23 another man appears before Eastbourne Magistrates accused of strangling his pet Staffordshire Terrier with a cable.

Last month, Gillian Breden, 51, of Grove Hill in Whitehawk, was sentenced two months in prison for docking the tails off Rottweiler puppies with kitchen scissors.

Anyone with any information about yesterday's attack can contact the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.