Heck, even the kennel associations have a hard time deciding if the American Pit Bull and the Staffordshire are one or two breeds. The melange of dogs labeled "pit bulls" may not be exactly the same (and some may not deserve the label) but mostly we aren't talking apples to oranges here, more often we're comparing Red Delicious to Macintosh. Poodles and Yorkies these things ain't.H2Andy:
From the Roman arenas more than 2000 years ago to the late-19th century English butchers dogs, these dogs and their progenitors were bred specifically to be ferocious and vicious fighters. The argument that in the past 100 years this has not been the case is...deceptive. In 1898 the United Kennel Club was formed with the express intent of providing registration and fighting guidelines for the now officially-named American Pit Bull Terrier - things have changed but not enough. It doesn't take much of a google to find that there are illegal breeders in most major cities in the US that are still fighting these dogs and working hard to keep them as mean as they possibly can. Fighting may not have recently been a primary objective of most breeders in Europe and the United States but that doesn't mean that those breeders have been breeding against the fighting instinct, either. You might overcome a couple of millenia of breeding in 100 years but not unless you work hard to remove the trait and that has not been done.
As to their nanny dog status in Great Britain, one distinct characteristic of the breed is an intense loyalty to the "pack" of humans that it belongs to. Though "fiercely protective" can be a good thing, it doesn't mean slobbering all over someone. Uncontrolled, it can be a nightmare waiting to happen.
In the hands of an owner who is willing to train and consistently dominate the dog, most dogs can be terrific pets. Unfortunately many pit bulls end up in the hands of weak-willed individuals who seek them out for protection and fail to train and control them or in the hands of deranged morons who are drawn to them because they want them to be vicious. Both of these are the "bad owners" you speak of. Good Grief, the name of the dog that jumped Ber was Vicious! That's not a bad joke, it's a command.
It can be hard to keep a dog, especially a big dog, especially a big dog bred to fight, from becoming a bad dog. Fortunately, though regrettably, the solution once the dog goes bad is simple: destroy it. If the owner won't do the responsible thing, they should be punished, too. Shooting the owners might be a little bit harsh, however. Pit Bulls represent a serious threat completely out of proportion to either their size or their numbers. A good Pit Bull requires a better than average owner to suppress more than 2000 years of malicious breeding and all too rarely does this happen.
Bottom line: It doesn't matter why there are bad dogs, but bad dogs there are. Refusing to acknowledge this diminishes the rest of your argument.
The best family dogs come from the shelter. If you're looking for a dog as a family pet, spend some time learning about dogs and then go spend an afternoon playing with the puppies at the pound and bring the one that loves you best home - chances are he'll have fewer of the genetic distortions that mark so many of the "pure breeds" and you'll save enough money to put the whole family through obedience training.
