I agree. Around the S.F. Bay Area, once or twice a year, someone or some toddler, gets mixed up with some Pit Bulls, resulting in death or horrible disfigurement.
I've saved this article for such occasions as this. It is by John Dvorak, who used to write a column for the S.F. Examiner. The article is at least 12 years old. It's late, so I'll just post the highlights.
"The Pit Bull is a direct decendant of the fighting dogs first bred after the banishment of bull-baiting in England in 1835. Before then, the great mastiff was bred into the bull mastiff and finally into the king of bull-baiting dogs, the bulldog. The bulldog would put on a show by attacking a bull and hopefully clamping its huge jaws onto the bull's nose where it would lock on until the bull suffocated or was ripped to shreds by other dogs. The amount of blood and guts this produced amused Victorian English society, but was finally banished when the Brits came to their senses.
Funny thing about the bulldog. He was so specifically bred to kill bulls that he had no animosity toward man or another dog. Some breeders fearing loss of revenue from bullbaiting pulled a switcheroo and proved that the still legal dog fighting could be amusing to the blood sport lovers if the dogs were vicious enough. Their goal: Breed a dog who hates dogs and can fight. The perfect combination came about when a now extinct line of the unpredictable and manic white English terrier was bred with a bulldog. The result was the Staffordshire terrier and eventually, the American Staffordshire terrier or, as we know it, the American pit bull. It was a dog with the bulldog-like ability to clamp down powerful jaws with the instincts of the crazed and skittish White English terrier and it's go-for-the-throat attitude when in doubt.
The White English terrier is extinct because it was made extinct by public decree when it was decided that this dog, a notorious biter,was a menace to society. Imagine how bad this dog must have been! Unlike breeds such as the boxer and other dogs bred down from the ferocious bull mastiff, and turned into gentle creatures that act like dogs should act - man's best friend - the White English terrier was a lost cause. Unfortunately, the legacy of this dog's bad genes thrives in the blood line and psyche of the American pit bull.
...Unless breeders can regain control of the breeding and weed out this dog's instability once and for all, then the breed should be abolished. All talk of training and socialization is pure bunk. The apologists for this breed make it sound like these dogs are people who can change their nature with education. They are not people - they are dogs! Dogs breed to kill, This particular dog is a bad and dangerous breed that should be exterminated once and for all to rid us of the dangerous antisocial blood line of the White English terrier and to stop the senseless attacks on innocent children (and grandmothers). And who knows how many pet owners have had their animals mauled and killed by pit bulls? THere is no other solution but to end it."
Here is a portrait of the evil White English Terrier in question, to have been such a ferocious dog it has its bloodlines in many of the more socially acceptable dogs of these times, Rat Terrier and Jack Russell Terrier being just two. (Google is your friend)
He is flanked by Black and Tan Manchester Terriers, this portrait is circa 1870 or so.
"He was so specifically bred to kill bulls that he had no animosity toward man or another dog."
As a cattle rancher I have a little more than a passing knowlege of genetics. When breeding we use genetics for carcass weight, marbling, fat/lean ratios, feed conversion, etc. In fact, I even have a small library on the subject. Despite two hundred years of accumulated advancement of genetic science, I can find no reference to a "bull-baiting" gene.
Dvorak takes liberties in this article attributing trained behavior to genetically bred behavior. What was "bred" were physical attributes. The "bull-baiting" was trained behavior.
In dog bite/attack incidents, the term pitbull is applied to any dog that bears a resemblence to a pitbull. This includes more than 21 recognized breeds and their crosses. It's no wonder that "pitbulls" are often associated with incidents of these kind.
The Centers for Disease Control study dog bite incidents, including the types of dogs most likely to attack. Of the breed specific dogs, Rottweilers, German shepherds, Huskies, Alaskan malamutes, Doberman pinschers, chows, Great Danes, St. Bernards and Akitas are the chief offenders. Pitbulls are also reported, but even the CDC adds the caveat that the term pitbull is a descriptive term rather than a breed reference.
The CDC reported that:
"Although pit bull mixes and Rottweillers are most likely to kill and seriously maim, fatal attacks since 1975 have been attributed to dogs from at least 30 breeds."
The CDC study also includes:
"The most horrifying example of the lack of breed predictibility is the October 2000 death of a 6-week-old baby, which was killed by her family's Pomeranian dog. The average weight of a Pomeranian is about 4 pounds, and they are not thought of as a dangerous breed. Note, however, that they were bred to be watchdogs! The baby's uncle left the infant and the dog on a bed while the uncle prepared her bottle in the kitchen. Upon his return, the dog was mauling the baby, who died shortly afterwards. ("Baby Girl Killed by Family Dog," Los Angeles Times, Monday, October 9, 2000, Home Edition, Metro Section, Page B-5.)"
Later the CDC seems to advise against the "blame the dog game" where this statement is offered:
"In all fairness, therefore, it must be noted that:'Any dog, treated harshly or trained to attack, may bite a person. Any dog can be turned into a dangerous dog. The owner most often is responsible -- not the breed, and not the dog.
'An irresponsible owner or dog handler might create a situation that places another person in danger by a dog, without the dog itself being dangerous, as in the case of the Pomeranian that killed the infant (see above).
Any individual dog may be a good, loving pet, even though its breed is considered to be likely to bite. A responsible owner can win the love and respect of a dog, no matter its breed. One cannot look at an individual dog, recognize its breed, and then state whether or not it is going to attack."
I have taken the liberty to place emphasis on appropriate words in the above quote.
I think it important to notice the lack of any finding by the CDC of "genetic pre-disposition" for any dog, including Pitbulls or pitbull mixes, to bite or attack.