It’s true that many other dog breeds are just as prone to attacking as pit bulls. However, pit bulls have extraordinary jaw strength, which has been deliberately bred into them, and which is unmatched by any other breed except possibly certain individual dogs within certain types of mastiff breeds. The amount of damage pit bulls can inflict is much, much greater when they launch an attack with the same intent/mindset as another breed.
There’s only so much that training and good treatment can accomplish. Years ago, a young couple I knew who were very well-educated and responsible, both bankers, bought their first home and decided to get a Rottweiler (female) in addition to the black Lab they already had. They got it from a show dog breeder, took it to many weeks of obedience training, certainly never mistreated it or allowed it to be mistreated, and thought everything was fine. About a year later they had a houseguest staying for a few days. The couple and their guest were in the family room watching TV, and the guest decided to go out to his car to get something. As he came back in the front door, the dog snapped at him, breaking the skin on his arm. Yes, the owners were able to stop the attack at that point, but if it had been a pit bull, and gotten a hard grip on the arm, it might well have broken the arm and/or ripped away a chunk of flesh, and even with the Rottweiler, things could have been a LOT worse, if the owners hadn’t been right there to intervene. The dog apparently mistook the returning guest for an intruder, even though the guest had already been staying at the house for a couple of days, and went into attack-and-destroy mode. Without the authoritative voices and presence of the owner, it would very likely have continued and escalated the attack.
“pit bulls have extraordinary jaw strength, which has been deliberately bred into them”
(From the ADBA booklet, “Discover the American Pit Bull Terrier.)
http://www.realpitbull.com/myths.html
The jaws of the Pit Bull are functionally the same as the jaws of any other breed, and this has been proven via expert examination.
The few studies which have been conducted of the structure of the skulls, mandibles and teeth of Pit Bulls show that, in proportion to their size, their jaw structure and thus its inferred functional morphology, is no different than that of any [other] breed of dog.
- Dr. I. Lerh Brisbin of the University of Georgia (from the ADBA booklet, “Discover the American Pit Bull Terrier.)