There are plenty of good pit bulls out there that are wonderful with kids. The breed just happens to be popular with the worst kind of owners and when they do attack someone they do a lot of damage because they are athletic hunting dogs.
But yeah if you see a dog shredding someone you should be able to shoot em
It's not that the breed of dog is "good or bad," it's just that pits are bred to be relentless and lethal. It's in their nature.
All dogs (since they are animals) have instincts they often follow versus training. I've seen cats and dogs let toddlers crawl on them, pull on them, chew on them and carry them around like stuffed animals. I think that's their instinct where they know that's the "baby" and nothing -- even the pet -- is allowed to hurt the baby. They protect the children in the home as their own.
The problem is, when a dog decides to attack another animal or human, how dangerous is that animal potentially able to become? Most other breeds don't attack & attack & attack. When they see the opponent retreat, they usually quit attacking. They might follow and bark to warn them away, but not continue the attack. Once the pit gets a jaw latched onto its target's body, the dog will hold on. Getting them to break off is nearly impossible without enough force or injury to the dog.
It's a case of -- when the bad thing happens (dog attacks), would you rather have a pit bull coming after you or pretty much any other breed? Even German Shepherds are less aggressive unless trained to be working dogs.
I use the analogy of owning a tiger. If that thing gets loose, how much damage could it do to pets and people versus an ordinary house cat? Some animals are too dangerous based solely on their breed/species to be pets unless the owner ensures the animal is always under their control.
The owner has a responsibility to keep his SEVEN PIT BULLS under his control. That obviously didn't happen. It could get worse for the owner if investigators find this is not the first time any of his dogs have done something like this. You get one "freebie." After that, you know your dogs have the potential of hurting other pets and humans.