Cue the “it’s not the breed, it’s how they’re raised” crowd.
geneke antonio lyons
First and foremost, it's bad breeders. and then it's bad owners. If you breed a dog to be vicious, it will be vicious. If you raise a dog to be vicious, it will be vicious. If you do both, someone is going to get hurt, guaranteed. Dobermans and shepherds experienced similar problems.
I have to say it was because the owners dogs were behaving as if they were a hunting pack....it is both nurture and the breed. The pit bulls generally attract two types of owners. ones that want a mean dog that people will be scared of or those that think if they love the dog enough he wont do bad things. for a lot of people the pit is just bad match up...the breed is very stubborn and needs an owner that is willing to put in the time and effort with the dog and even then you will still have some that it is best to put down for the safety of everyone but that situation can happen with any large breed of dog. no one is ever real scared of the vicious Pomeranian or other small breed dog.
Obviously it’s both the breed and the upbringing. Border Collies are wonderful, intelligent dogs but they will herd what ever they can, even your kids and they will often get a little snappy if they can’t get enough exercise. They were breed to their herding skills and connections to their owner. This is hardly controversial with most people.
Why then would anyone think that a breed that was bred for fighting and protecting people/property (bred for aggressive behavior) will be anything other than aggressive. Put them in packs and you are asking for it. Then you go and train them to protect yourself and incourage aggressive behavior.