Personal experience with pitbull rescue and personal ownership of breed.
I respect your experience and thank you for your efforts to rescue these beautiful dogs.
My pitbull ownership predated my love for the breed; we adopted what we thought was a lab mix from the pound, as a companion for our four children. As he lost weight, I realized that he was actually a pitbull mix, and I would have gotten rid of him if I had not found a sort of pitbull advocacy group that helped me through his behavioral issues.
One thing they always insisted upon was respecing the pit’s potential to attack. They never tried to convince us that a pitbull in his ‘purest’ state was a malleable pushover that could be treated like any other dog.
Because of their honesty I feel confident that I can keep this dog and my children safe and happy. I know what he needs, and I know what can happen if he doesn’t get it.
I think the biggest problem for the pit bull is people who want the image of power but not the responsibility, and I’m not talking about dog fighters. I’m talking about nice little families with nice little kids who buy into the line that a pitbull is no different from any other dog, without considering what the dog was bred to do. If people took the breed’s purpose more seriously, I think we’d see less of these maulings.