A ‘heartbroken’ dog owner said he found bullet holes in walls and blood on his carpets after police shot his beloved pooches in his home.

Ashley Taylor, 35, gave officers the keys to his property on July 30 this year when they arrived and arrested him on suspicion of burglary and other offences.

He put his dogs - Staffordshire Bull Terrier Lotus and American Bulldog Prince - in the kitchen of his Sheffield, South Yorks., home before going to a police station.

But when he returned the following day, he found cartridge casings, blood and bullet holes in his property – along with just one of his dog’s collars on the landing.

South Yorkshire Police later said the dogs were believed to be an “unregistered XL Bully and a pit bull type” and were “aggressive", so they were destroyed “humanely”.

However, Ashley was left devastated by the loss of his two pooches, who he said were like ‘his kids’.