All breeds are capable of killing. Should we give them all the needle? The most horrifying example of the lack of breed predictability is the October 2000 death of a 6-week-old baby, which was killed by her family’s Pomeranian dog. The average weight of a Pomeranian is about 4 pounds, and they are not thought of as a dangerous breed. Note, however, that they were bred to be watchdogs! The baby’s uncle left the infant and the dog on a bed while the uncle prepared her bottle in the kitchen. Upon his return, the dog was mauling the baby, who died shortly afterwards. (”Baby Girl Killed by Family Dog,” Los Angeles Times, Monday, October 9, 2000, Home Edition, Metro Section, Page B-5.)

In many shelters across the United States, Pit bulls or dogs that appear to be pit bulls comprise a large portion of the shelter’s population and may be destroyed due to the stigma associated with the breed.
Although friendliness and tolerance towards humans are traits of the breed., there are, as in any breed, those that are dangerous toward humans. It is the owner’s responsibility to be in total control of his dog, and it is the owner who, through intentional mistreatment or neglect, is frequently responsible for pit bull bites. Many attacks by other dog breeds are misclassified as “pit bulls” by media reports.
Regardless of who they are, any owner of a pit bull must train the dog well. Lack of proper socialization and strong training can result in a dog with aggressive tendencies. Under the care of an overly-permissive or uneducated owner, pit bulls (or any other large breed) can become very dangerous dog

Most people who own these breeds direct their dogs’ plentiful energy toward nonviolent athletic tasks. Some people train their pit bulls for dog agility. Others involve their pit bulls in weight pulling competitions, obedience competitions or schutzhund. The pit bull often excels at these sports. Out of the 25 dogs who have earned UKC “superdog” status (by gaining championship titles in conformation, obedience, agility, and weightpull), fourteen have been pit bulls[citation needed].

A Pit Bull
Positive Media Coverage (Rarely or Never Heard)
Although negative information about pit bulls is widespread and, when a negative news story occurs, highly publicized, there are also many positive stories. Some work in hospitals and care facilities as certified therapy dogs, many are well-loved family pets, and some have even saved people’s lives. There are many incidences of pit bulls being productively employed by U.S. Customs [68], as police K9s.[69]
Often pit bulls have been reported to “adopt” other species of animals (such as kittens or squirrels), which some attribute to the breed nickname, “nanny dog”.[70] It is more widely accepted that the breed nickname, “nanny dog” comes from Pit Bull type dogs innate love and tolerance of children.
A rescued pit bull called Popsicle is a United States Customs dog, and is famous for sniffing out one of the biggest cocaine busts in history. [71]
In February, 2006, New Yorker magazine writer Malcolm Gladwell published an article surveying the research on pit bulls which concluded that legal attempts to ban the breed were both crude and unnecessary. [72]
In February 2007 a pit bull named “Chief” rescued his family of humans from a spitting cobra by dashing in front of the attacking snake and taking the deadly bite himself. Chief subdued the snake but died of the venom 30 minutes later. [73]
In April 2007, columnist John Canzano of The Oregonian newspaper wrote a favorable piece on Hollywood, the pit bull that formerly belonged to NBA player Qyntel Woods. [74] Hollywood, renamed Stella, was adopted by a loving owner and reformed from a fighting dog to a lap dog.

In all fairness, therefore, it must be noted that:

Any dog, treated harshly or trained to attack, may bite a person. Any dog can be turned into a dangerous dog. The owner or handler most often is responsible for making a dog into something dangerous.
An irresponsible owner or dog handler might create a situation that places another person in danger by a dog, without the dog itself being dangerous, as in the case of the Pomeranian that killed the infant (see above).
Any individual dog may be a good, loving pet, even though its breed is considered to be potentially dangerous. A responsible owner can win the love and respect of a dog, no matter its breed. One cannot look at an individual dog, recognize its breed, and then state whether or not it is going to attack.

Let me be clear that I am not defending the aggressiveness of the “pet” which resulted in the horrific death of a child, but I am holding each and every pet owner to be educated and responsible for knowing what they are stepping into with different breeds and making sure that a “pecking order” is established therefore each pet knows where it belongs in the “pack”.