http://www.dogsbite.org/dangerous-dog…
Criminals choose pit bulls
In 2006, the Journal of Interpersonal Violence published a study that focused on Ohio dog owners.23 The results showed that criminals are more likely to own vicious dogs. For the purposes of the study, researchers used agreed definitions of “vicious dogs” found within local ordinances. All ordinances included pit bulls because during this period Ohio state law automatically declared all pit bulls “vicious.” The report is best summarized by one of its authors, Jaclyn Barnes: “Owners of vicious dogs who have been cited for failing to register a dog (or) failing to keep a dog confined on the premises … are more than nine times more likely to have been convicted for a crime involving children, three times more likely to have been convicted of domestic violence … and nearly eight times more likely to be charged with drug (crimes) than owners of low-risk licensed dogs.”24
There is no denying that dangerous people are attracted to dangerous dogs. These same people also have a higher likelihood of being irresponsible owners. Pit bulls are the dog of choice for criminals and are often used in drug and gang-related activities. Police officers are frequently forced to shoot dangerous pit bulls25 when serving search warrants as well. The combination of criminals and pit bulls exponentially increases the danger these dogs pose to communities.
As with many of the older working breeds the breed name is also a job description. Pointer, retriever, setter, hovawart and shepherd are examples. The Pit Bull Terrier or American (Pit) Bull Terrier was bred solely to do combat in a dogpit. They were never nurse’s aids, nanny dogs, soldiers’ rescue dogs, herding dogs, astronauts, physicists or anything other than combat dogs. I am always suspicious of those who claim to love this breed while simultaneously in such denial of what the breed is in reality. If you love something you love it for what it truly is and not for something it has never been and can never become.
