Victorian councils say the state's dangerous dog laws need urgent amendments.

The Supreme Court has given two dogs a death row reprieve after ruling authorities had failed to meet all the criteria needed to declare the pets were American pit bull terriers.

The Monash Council is one of the authorities involved in the case.

Monash mayor Micaela Drieberg says the laws need to be refined to help protect the community.

"The laws were introduced with the best of intentions and that's to keep dangerous dogs away from our community and the risk that they pose," she said.

"It's not actually doing that the best that it can because it is so difficult to correctly identify some breeds of dogs."

Victoria's Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh says the laws governing restricted dog breeds will be reviewed after the court decision.

"We will be having a look at the case in detail and if it requires legislative amendment to improve the ability of councils to manage these types of dog in the community, we're prepared to look at that," he said.