I don't post here much but here goes.
The problem is that they are exceptionally powerful and loyal/affectionate (not joking) dogs. Nurture the loyalty and 95 times out of 100 they are the most loving harmless family dogs..
The problem is that with ANY dog breed there's also (and I don't know the number but it's there for sure) a percentage of them that are not right in the head and will be violent at the drop of a hat. In a small jack russell terrier or a chihuahua it's either cute or annoying, in a pitty, it's fucking horrendously dangerous. To that end, anyone even considering having one NEEDS to be fucking well trained (the person first then the dog itself) in raising dogs and look for signs and keep the dogs away from kids and training them properly. If there's the slightest hint of a problem, you take zero chances, you take the thing to the vet and have it put to sleep. It sounds harsh but it's the only way you can even think about owning this type of dog.
Then there's the elephant in the room. Probably half or more of the pitbull attacks (certainly in my country - Australia where they are now illegal) aren't that percentage of them that weren't right in the head, no it's because they belonged to shit girl owners who were actually conditioning them to be violent, either for dog fighting, or because the owners are just generally fucking idiots. The same dead shits are likely as not also the ones to not secure their yards the dogs get loose and do what they'd been raised to do by said fuckheads. Of course then a kid is attacked and sadly often as not killed. The owners shit themselves and instead of the owners having any accountability for raising the dog deliberately to be vicious they get on tv with crocodile tears and say some shit like 'oh I don't know what happened, our dog 'fluffy' (real name 'bloodbath' or some other dickhead name) is sooo affectionate and loving they've never shown any hint of aggressive behaviour' . Naturally the dogs are put to sleep, and frankly the fuckhead owners who have brutalised them should be too, they aren't on the fucking verge of curing cancer or contributing to society.
AbrahamG you sir are absolutely spot on - they need to be treated like firearms, and indeed there's some people who should never be allowed within a country mile of a firearm. And similarly any firearm needs to be immaculately maintained/treated/cared for and any with a faulty trigger mechanism needs either to be fixed or destroyed, no exceptions.
I was involved in animal rescue with a now ex girlfriend for some time. It's a bit of an underground thing over here. Some are just the regular 'you can't take care of the animal, we will' some are almost like terrorist cells and will literally break down a fence to get a mistreated animal and some will even tune up the owner (though it's admittedly rarer). I know of one instance where they got two dogs that were destined for fighting. They managed to get them out of there but the dogs were clearly always on edge and risky to be around, even taking all possible precautions. They ended up having no choice but to have them put down. Which is upsetting for animal lovers but a fucking damn sight better than how barbarically the dogs would have ended up dying if they ended up in dog fights and astronomically better than the risk of that conditioned in capricious viciousness unintentionally unleashed on an innocent person, much less a child, or even another animal.
I myself have had a couple of pit bulls over the years, none since they were made illegal. I currently have an American Staffy, who was a rescue, and I love the big gentle giant like he was my flesh and blood. Got him from a guy who was an ice user (I think you guys call it meth - its usually called ice or shard here) and cared for it about as much as Anthony Fauci might. I genuinely feel sorry for people who haven't had the good fortune to have had dogs from their childhood and their whole life. You're really missing out on an awesome experience. The comment I think BlackMetallic made about (regular, not the american variant) staffordshire bull terriers being nanny dogs being all part of the bully breed may be true genetically but their temperament is incredibly child friendly. They'll put up with kids being kids and show nothing but love. About the only dog that comes to mind as being naturally more affectionate would be whippets, which are imho probably the best dog in the world for young kids. Unlimited energy and just the embodiment of love and loyalty. To make this getbig relevant, google 'wendy the whippet' to see Ronnie Coleman in canine form. Like that particular breed of belgian cattle. some whippets have a genetic defect which inhibits myostatin or whatever it's called and they end up near double the weight or more of a regular whippet. But still with the same beautiful temperament.
One of the things that happened when pittys were made illegal (some other breeds too afaik) here ands I believe this might have also happened in the UK is that the aforementioned fuckhead unfit dog owners just switched to the next breed that was potentially dangerous but not yet made illegal. Either that or they (sometimes successfully) tried to register them as a staffordshire bull terrier cross....
Bottom line - if you want to even consider owning a pitty or any other big breed, do your homework and be prepared for the chance you may have to have it put to sleep because its temperament is wrong. Generally you need them from a young age to guage this, adult dogs with unknown histories are a big concern. And anyone involved in dog fighting and conditioning/training dogs for that purpose should be fucking gassed because they are ruining the human gene pool.
