Yes. See this link provided by Verloona Ti.
Well, this weiner dog put a human infant into critical condition.
And my reply at 51.
Still, size matters. The kindest, most gentle monster of a dog terrifies others just because it exists. IMHO, for that reason alone, they have no place in ordinary neighborhoods. I'd ban them. But, that's just me.
With a dog this strong, and NO ADULTS AROUND, this was a totally preventable death, and says nothing about the aggressiveness of any breed.
Yes, it was a preventable death. No, it says a lot about the lethality of some breeds, and their natural aggression when provoked by something . . . distress, intrusion, food, mating . . . something.
The only thing more dangerous are free roaming packs running amok.
I agree that if it had been a cocker spaniel in the same situation and the same reaction, the girl would be alive. Probably pretty messed up, but alive. However, something needs to be said for the size and strength of a dog. Not only that, but retrieving and flushing breeds are bred to have a very soft bite so that they don't hurt the game.
Pit bulls were obviously bred to have a much stronger bite in order to grip cattle, and later, other dogs. This says nothing of their temperaments, but does contribute in a major way to their reputation. This is perhaps why there are many more bites from cockers and labs, but not as much damage. It doesn't mean these breeds are less human-aggressive, just that they aren't built to do damage.
The same can be said for other dogs with hard bites, such as German Shepherds, Rottweilers, and Dobies. They have all had their time in the spotlight when they became too popular for their own good and had top billing in the CDC's list of dogs causing human deaths.
One interesting thing to note here, despite the CDC's admission that their study was flawed: No matter what breed comes into popularity over the years, the average number of human deaths remains the same. Even though pit bulls outnumber most other breeds right now, the total number of deaths by dogs has not gone up. They have simply replaced the last popular dog.