Dogs aren't dangerous its their owners that train them that are dangerous
I have four dogs - two very large German shepherds, and two little yappy fucks. I also have kids in the house ranging in age from 1 to 13. The GSDs have proven to me that they'll literally lay down their lives for any one of us. They allow the babies to hit them, pull their fur, even climb all over them. I still don't trust them alone with each other. Dog, as loyal as they are to their pack, are NOT people. They operate from different motives and instincts than we do, and will hurt a baby, or toddler without warning. To a dog, such behavior is normal pack life.
I have two Great Pyrenees, Norman and Lily. Pyrs are by their nature very gentle and tolerant of children, but even so, I wouldn't leave a small child alone with them--their sheer size could cause injury, just by knocking the child over.
People who choose to own higher-energy or bully breeds (actually, bully breeds tend to be high-energy by nature) and then choose to leave their children unattended with those dogs should, IMHO, be held criminally liable should something happen to the child. Pit bulls and their "defenders" are the worst, always with the "my dog would never do that" and "it's in the training, not the breed". No, it's a combination of the breed and the owners, who tend to be either a) wildly misinformed b) trying to demonstrate their machismo or c) both. I've personally been charged by two separate pit bulls, on two separate occasions, whilst out walking Lily and Norman. The owners had the dogs off leash and (obviously) not under voice control. It is a terrifying experience, to see a dog coming at you full bore, teeth bared, hackles up, clearly intent on doing harm. In both cases, Norman slammed the dogs to the ground and pinned them, saving myself and Lily from injury. What were the owners doing? Oh, yelling "It's okay, he's a friendly dog!" Right.
As a side note, I once had an animal control officer explain to me that while all dogs have the potential to bite, a non-pit bull bite is a bite-and-release, whereas a pit bull bite is a bite-and-shake. Or more bluntly, like receiving a through-and-through bullet wound vs. receiving a grenade to the face. That was her take on it.
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There are certain aggressive breeds which can frequently be unpredictable, and owners who disregard this simple fact are courting trouble and should be held accountable when things go terribly wrong. In property management, I have to send maintenance personnel and contractors to work in occupied units where dogs are loose, and it can be a very uncomfortable or even risky situation for them. We insist that tenants sequester their dogs before we send our people in to work, but it doesn't always work out that way. Someday I'm going to have a workman's comp claim when one of my guys takes a chance he shouldn't have.
People and dogs are like people and kids. Some are well trained and behaved. Many are not.
The trouble is dogs will attack and bite if angry - kids don't.
