Just my pennies worth on this subject...
Firstly, sad story and it's such a shame however to blame the dog is like blaming the car when someone is ran over by the vehicle.
I always look at the other end of the dog lead when approaching dogs and 9/10 I find the bad dogs have bad owners.
I've owned Staffies throughout my life, and never have they ever attacked another dog, child, or any human for that matter.... Because they were brought up properly trained!!!
Dogs are more likely to attack due to fear, and will pick up on their owners anxieties/reactions... So if your walking down the street with a cute granny dog such as a Scottish Highland Terrier, and you see me and my Staffie coming towards you... You start to panic and pick up your dog off the floor and become fearful... Your dog will gradually learn to be fearful of this scenario and is more prone to then attack other dogs.
The breed is irrelevant.
There are far far more Staffordshire Bull terriers out there than most other breeds which is why you're more likely to hear about them attacking.
Yes Labradors might be just as popular but they weren't originally bred for "ratting" were they... Which is where the word Terrier comes from... When these dogs used to kill rats on the streets before we imported cats.
Eventually when cats came in, Terrier breeds were bred for dog pit fighting at town carnivals and so on.
So yes they can be more prone to aggression if taught this, and with their short legs, lock jaws and so on they can be more vicious....
But bring me a lovely family Labrador pup right now and I'll turn him into a right vicious bastard that would rip up a playground full of kids in 3mths of training.
Obviously I wouldn't want to do this but the point stands... Dogs are the product of their owners.
More is needed to regulate the sale/ownership of dogs I completely agree.
How this would be regulated is beyond me as it would cost alot of money and resources thus an increase in tour tax... I'd rather have that money spent on education programs for teaching people how to train dogs.
For the record, I've been bit twice by dogs... One which was a Border Collie, the other was a golden retriever.
Staffies are beautiful dogs and my staff Otis has been very rewarding to our family and friends. Superb character.
Presuming all Staffordshire Bull Terriers are bad is like presuming all human beings are bad because of the millions of humans who kill, rape, and abuse kids.