I don't know if the mother was killed. Sorry, but my post reads that way. I think I meant, the mother was hospitalized and the child, killed. Why weren't the owners hospitalized as well?
Yes, this is why we shouldn't save every dog. Dogs that do serious damage to children. Dogs that bite their owners, I mean, really, to do damage bite them. Dogs that are unpredictable. This kind of thing really hurts all dog owners, because people tend to group formidable dogs together. And, yes, this could have been a pit bull or it could have been a Rottweiler, or it could have been a German Shepherd dog.
I think many mistakes were made with regard to this dog, knowing nothing whatsoever about it. Yes, the reason it was in the shelter was probably because its owners could not handle aggression issues. They probably should have put the dog down. A shelter should do more than find an unsuspecting couple to take a dog home. The new owners should have taken the dog home and given it a little time to settle in, and for them to learn what the dog's temperament is, before putting it into a situation with a little kid -- this isn't a one-two day endeavor.
Yes, I think you can get an adult dog with kids. If you are experienced. If you are getting the dog from someone who is experienced. It depends on the dog. But, even so, this is rare.
Dog-bite fatalities are rare. Unfortunately dog bites are not all that rare, and this wouldn't be in the news today if the dog just bit the kid several times, scaring her face and her feelings about dogs -- wouldn't even make the paper.