[AnAmericanMother]

Why is it always or almost always Pitt Bulls that do this?

More accurately, why do the news stories always report pit bulls?

Lazy news reporters don't know one dog from another. They report any dog attack as a "pit bull attack" without knowing the actual breed of the dog. A case awhile ago was reported as a "pit bull attack" - turned out to be a retriever-chow mix but the correction was buried on page A26.

Don't think this is possible? More than one person has mistaken my Labrador Retriever for a pit bull. There are more stupid people out there than you would think.

However, there also are actual dangerous dogs out there and many of them are "pit bull type". This is because this is the gangsta dog du jour and all the antisocial criminals want one. When I was younger, the German Shepherd was the Scary Dog, then it was Dobes, then Rottweilers.

While these dogs are based on the APBT and Staffordshire terrier, as another poster mentioned the gangsta types have introduced crossbreeds for size and have trained these dogs for aggression towards humans (a characteristic that the old APBTs never had - oddly enough because it would be dangerous to the handlers in a dogfight). Give a gangsta a couple of goofy old lovable Golden Retrievers and 8-10 generations and he could breed and train Killer Goldens.

And ignorant trailer trash types would buy them, trying to look big.

These dogs should be destroyed because their breeder and owner have ruined them. But the breeder and owner ought to be hammered to the fullest extent of the law, and then have everything they own taken away in damages and their wages garnished for the next 50 years.

[JustDoItAlways]

3 pitbulls on the loose can only be stopped with firearms.

[calex59]

When I was young I owned a German Shepard, he was a real sweetheart as far as the family went. Around other people however he was vicious and it took me a few years before I realized this. He was raised with love and kindness and never treated badly, never hit, kicked, starved or abused in anyway physically or mentally. I hated to admit he was a vicious dog, but finally realized it when he attacked a meter reader without provocation. I had him put down and would never own another Shepard.

There are vicious breeds, pit bulls may be one of them, some breeds are made for fighting and need to be kept under constant restraint. Unfortunately, there are also many people who are soft on dogs that won't admit some of them can be bad without being abused.

Certain breeds are more dangerous than others by their breeding and even if raised lovingly can turn on people, this is a fact not fiction. That's not to say the "nice" breeds can't attack people also, but to say that various breeds that comprise the pit bull family and other breeds such as Dobermans, Shepards etc. don't attack more often than breeds such as Golden Retrievers is just pulling the old head in the sand trick and ignoring facts.

[Eagles Talon IV]

Thank you for the informative reply. As for your statement "There are more stupid people out there than you would think." That is simply not possible.

[xsrdx]

There are more stupid people out there than you would think.

Nominated for "FR Understatement Of The Year".

Paris Hiltons fame, and Massachussets, are evidence enough.