British dog owners have been spared the prospect of compulsory third party insurance covering attacks by their animals.

Succumbing to public pressure, the UK Government ruled out the proposal, contained in its consultation package on dangerous dogs launched earlier this month.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn says the Government does not want to penalise responsible owners.

Critics successfully argued that mandatory insurance for 5 million owners would not solve the problem of compensating dog attack victims because outlawed dangerous breeds such as pit bull terriers would not be covered in any case.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has described the proposal as “unworkable” and says it is pleased to see it dropped.

“However, any proposal to require aggressive dogs who are not on the Dangerous Dogs Register to be covered by stand-alone third-party insurance would still be difficult to implement as there is currently no such cover available,” the ABI said.