U.S. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2000

Bites that result in death - (12 per year average)

50% are done by pit bull (and crosses) and Rottweilers (and crosses)
50%+ of the victims are children
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Pit Bull 32%
Rottweiler 18%
Husky/Malamute 15%
German Shepherd 11%
Wolf Hybrid 6%
Chow 5%
Doberman 3%
Great Dane 3%
St. Bernard 3%

Except for the Chow and the Pit bull , all the breeds are large. Chows are guarding/fighting dogs and pit bulls are fighting dogs with enlarged jaws and musculature.

AAS's position is that the statistics show that some breeds are more likely to do great harm than others, but that three things contribute to produce a dangerous dog:
1) size
2) genetic predilection to protect or fight
3) desocialization
Only one is necessary, but all three are commonly present in dogs that kill or maim.

For the sake of the hundreds of suffering, lonely, unhappy yard/guard dogs that we personally know about and for the thousands that we don't, and for the sake of the children who are their victims when they get loose, AAS wants it made illegal to desocialize these types of dogs by either neglect or deliberate abuse. We want it to be illegal to leave a dog in a yard or a garage or a porch 24/7. We want people to have to buy alarm systems and stop buying these poor doomed dogs. We want to put the breeders of these dogs out of business by removing their market.

Compare this list of dogs in the general public to the breeds that most commonly bite severely: except for the German shepherd, the dogs that are high on the list to kill and maim the most, are disproportionately low on the list of owned dogs. In other words, a few breeds of dogs do the most harm.

Most popular breeds. American Kennel Club, 2000

Labrador retriever
Golden retriever
German shepherd
Dachshund
Beagle
Poodle
Yorkshire Terrier
Chihuahua
Boxer
Shih Tzu
Rottweiler
Pomeranian
Miniature Schnauzer
Cocker spaniel
Pug
Shetland sheepdog
Miniature pinscher
Boston terrier
Siberian husky
Maltese terrier
Bulldog
Basset Hound
Doberman pinscher
German pointer
Bichon Frise
English Springer spaniel
Welsh corgi
Great Dane
Pekinese
West Highland white terrier
Brittany spaniel
Weimaraner
Lhasa Apso
Collie
Australian shepherd
St. Bernard
Shar-pei
Akita
Mastiff
Cairn terrier
Chesapeake Bay retriever
Scottish terrier
Papillon
Chow chow
Great Pyrenees
Airedale terrier
Vizsla
Alaskan Malamute
Dalmatian
Bloodhound
USA- http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/dog/popular.shtml