I don't think a pack of pit bulls need any 'provoking'.
Getting too close to a mother dog with puppies could certainly trigger an attack. So, several questions: Why were the puppies in a place that a strange child could approach? When they had 4 dogs a least, why did they need to have more? Why do they have so many children if they are too poor to build a good fence? Sounds like a whole lot of irresponsible breeding going on here which will get a 7 year respit, Of coure, for good behavior, they will probably do less time.