Despite the prime minister pledging to ban American XL bully following a series of attacks If the dogs are "well socialised, well managed, well trained", and are neutered and muzzled when out in public, then owners will not need to give them up.
According to Professor Christine Middlemiss the owners of American XL bully dogs may be able to keep their pets, the chief vet has said.
Rishi Sunak has said he will outlaw the animals under the Dangerous Dogs Act and new laws will be "in place by the end of the year".
There are concerns, however, that defining a breed could be difficult because the dogs are cross-bred.
The PM's announcement came after
Ian Price, 52, was mauled to death by two dogs in Staffordshire on Thursday, in
what police say was a suspected XL bully attack.
Professor Christine Middlemiss, the
UK's chief veterinary officer, said arriving at a "consensus" on a
definition will be one of the first things officials will do.
An "amnesty" approach would mean there would not be a cull of the dogs, Prof Middlemiss said.
"People that already have these dogs - and some of them will be well socialised, well managed, well trained - you will need to register and take certain actions," she told the BBC.
"Your dog will need to be neutered. It will need to be muzzled when out in public and on a lead and insured.
"But if you comply with these
actions, and that means we'll know where these dogs are, which will be a
massive benefit, then yes, absolutely, you will be able to keep your dog."
It is an approach which echoes that taken when pitbull terriers were banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act in the 1990s.
Lord Baker, who worked on the act, said XL bullys should be "neutered or destroyed" once the ban has come into force, with any permitted to live being "muzzled for the entire time".
He also said it should be done "almost immediately because this is a very dangerous breed and it has actually killed children and attacked other people".
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