My nephew, thank God, called me when he was considering getting a dog for the family. First words out of his mouth at the time was a pitbull.
I told him it was not a good idea. Especially a rescue pit, because the shelters and rescues are known to lie about the dog’s temperaments. I encouraged him to research the breed further if he did not believe what I was telling him as a professional animal behavior consultant. Rescues often let their hearts get in the way of public safety. I cannot express how many times I have heard from a pit rescue foster, “The dog was fine here, the new owners must have done something to trigger the dog.” And the rescues are never held to account for their negligence or poor placements.
It is a breed I do not trust, ever. A few weeks later my nephew called back and said he never realized the inherent dangers of the breed after doing some research.
My nephew saved up the money and the family ended up with a french bulldog instead. Every dog in the local shelter was some form of pitbull or pitmix.
My landlord a few years back had a pitbull. Beautiful dog. She loved me because I took her for walks a lot. But I could see that she was just a naturally aggressive dog. When other dogs sniff each other out and stuff, they usually end up wanting to play but she ended up wanting to fight. A rescue pit bull.
Another landlord had never owned a dog. Got a beautiful mix hound of some sort. They loved that dog but it did not like me. I asked for permission multiple times to just take the dog out for walks, then he’d be happy to see me. That landlord had some kind of psychological problem and didn’t see anything wrong with his dog coming around to attack me whenever it felt like it. I eventually got a restraining order against the landlord, had to have that dog on a leash at all times. On his own property. Rescue dog — but the abuse profile of the dog fed into the psycho issues of the landlord.
This database is always a good resource. I believe these dogs should be humanely euthanized when they come into shelters funded by the public immediately after any required waiting period (in case an owner is looking for them). Their numbers should be reduced to the greatest extent possible. The breed has proved to be extraordinarily dangerous over a long period of time.
https://www.nationalpitbullvictimawareness.org/attacks/pit-bull-attack-database