Dog-lovers in Britain celebrated Friday after a judge granted clemency to Dino, a German Shep-herd sentenced to death for biting, in a case that had gone as far as the European Court of Human Rights.

Dino, a seven-year-old German Shepherd, got into legal hot water when he bit the hand of a woman who tried to intervene in his fight with her dog in January 2001. He faced a destruction order but his owners, who say the incident was out of character, spent tens of thousands of pounds on a protracted legal fight to save him.

The case went as far as Britain's High Court and even the European Court of Human Rights in Stras-bourg where the dog's owner, Bryan Lamont, argued his rights had been compromised by an unclear law and a disproportionate sentence. A judge at Northampton Crown Court then granted Dino clemency after hearing evidence from two animal behaviorists and a vet.

“The judge was satisfied that this dog isn't a danger to public safety”, said specialist animal lawyer Trevor Coo-per, who represented Dino's owners. “Our best argument was that the incident happened three and a half years ago and nothing has happened since.”