Dog owners whose pets kill people should face consequences similar to culpable drivers, who can be jailed for a maximum of 20 years' jail, the Victorian government says.
The Nationals deputy leader Peter Walsh said the government is considering amending the Crimes Act to crack down on the owners of dangerous dogs that kill people.
He said owners should be held responsible for their dogs' actions, similar to people charged with culpable driving, he said.
"These types of dogs have lost their right to exist in Victoria," Mr Walsh told reporters on Thursday.
He was speaking after an American pitbull mastiff cross mauled a four-year-old girl to death in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Mr Walsh said the government would remove the current amnesty in place for people to register their unregistered dangerous dogs.
"Those dogs in future will be able to be seized by local government and destroyed because they will be unregistered," he said.
A 'dob in a dangerous dog' anonymous hotline would be set up so people who have dangerous dogs in their neighbourhood can report them.
Mr Walsh said the government would allocate funds to local councils to help them investigate dogs reported to the hotline.
The Victorian government introduced laws in 2005 requiring all pitbulls and other restricted breeds to be desexed, effectively breeding them out of existence.
The restricted dog breeds include pitbulls, Japanese tosas, Argentinian fighting dogs and Brazilian fighting dogs.
A dangerous dogs register to track restricted breeds was introduced in 2006.
Registered dogs must be desexed, microchipped, have a safe enclosure and be muzzled and on a lead when in public, Mr Walsh said.
Pitbulls were banned from importation in the late 1990s.
Under current law, someone whose dog kills a person could potentially be charged with negligent action causing injury, which carries a maximum jail sentence of up to 10 years.
There are about 240 dogs on the dangerous dogs register, including 42 in Brimbank Council where the child was killed on Wednesday.
The total has come down from 355 since the dangerous dogs register began operation.
"So the fact they are desexed means that it is working - that this number of registered dogs is decreasing.
"But there are a number of unregistered dogs that we need to handle."
Mr Walsh said there are an estimated 10,000 unregistered dangerous dogs in the state.
He rejected suggestions police should step in when an unmuzzled dangerous dog is in public.
"This is a responsibility for local government," he said.
