My wife works with the Missouri Pitbull Rescue, Kansas Pitbull rescue, and the national group as well.
All dogs have traits of their breeding. My particular pitbull shows a lot of those qualities. Built like a brick watermelon house, turns on a dime, has an excessive amount of energy, dog aggressive, and loves people.
Most of the stories that my wife has read and talked with in the rescue groups are all the same. Different levels of being dog aggressive and the biggest lap dog other than a mastiff. I have to put Bishop, my pit, outside when people come to the house… otherwise they get tailed whacked and a lick down.
A lot of owning a pit, and actually any dog, is the owner’s responsibility to training it. Bishops was primarily obedience and interactions with people. One of the 25 different commands he knows is “Ouch!” followed by some loud whimpering and yelling. The response he’s been taught to this is to back off and lay down.
I’m not ignorant to think that pits aren’t powerful and need some attention but to classify a breed with one stroke is, well, ignorant.
It actually comes down to property rights as far as I’m concerned.
And for those of you who think the pit rescue groups aren’t helping, they put down any dogs they take in that show people aggression, will not adopt to a family that has the same sex animal as what they want, require appropriate fencing, and do house checks for all the people that end up wanting to adopt one.
Start enforcing laws against owners is what’s needed and stay away from my property otherwise I’ll go after yours. Wait, guns have already been mentioned. Let’s ban them. It’s obviously the guns fault and not the owner.
To address what Stringer wrote, when and if my dog now or one that I own in the future attacks a person. Then that dog is no longer welcome and will be put down. Already had the discussion with my wife.