This is quite a touching thread for me to read; because I think I can honestly say the best dog I have ever met; and fell in love with was actually a pitbull terrier type dog who came into my rescue.
Rest in Peace Bentley-Boo

I can sum Bentley up into one thing, The most wonderful dog a person could ask for. He honestly didn't have a bad bone in his body, and he lived every minute of his life to the full. He truly was so happy with everything, when I think of him I still smile at him dragging me into the sea rendering me soaked as he attempted to swim to some unknown land - With me still attatched to the darn leash! Him slobbering me with kisses after he stole my sausage roll...

I just wanted to mention Bentley to you all; He was actually really good around other dogs and very sociable, the only problem he honestly did have was if he had a very high value toy with him and another dog attempted to take it. This happened on just one occassion, and even this was a minor fight and neither dog was thankfully injured.
He was very dog-sociable, extremely obediant and loved his training. Honestly I have never said this about ANY dog before.. He was just perfect.

I just wish that everybody could have gotten the chance to meet Bentley and see that Pitbull terrier type dogs they really are not a bad breed, and that bad owners are to blame.
Sitting here right now I'm trying not to cry... Love you forever Bentley.
RIP

Oh my god! I am heartbroken to see that link. I desair I really do. I'm looking at my 5 babies here now and if someone took one of them away to be destroyed I don't think I could ever get over it. What scares me is that there are people willing to do the job of removing dogs from loving families. I couldn't do it. It's shocking.

Pitbull dogs are no more dangerous than any other breed. They so have a few breed characteristics that make them more potentially damaging than some other breeds IF they attack; A high pain thresh hold, a bullish determination, the ability to frenzy attack and a high bite pressure to name but a few, traits I should add that are replicated in many other non banned breeds like other bull terriers, Akita, Dogue du Bordeaux, rottweiller etc.

But for the most part, Pitbulls that have been bred to be pets and had good well balanced parents and good well balanced training are no more likely to attack than any other breed.

However.

Due to their reputation and their 'tough guy' image. They are the dog of choice for the type of idiot that thinks it makes them 'look hard' to have an aggressive dog snapping at the end of their lead. The type of idiot, who until the pitbull got all the press would have had Rottweillers or staffies and abused them until they snapped too. They bait and taunt and train their dog to look aggressive and snap at people.

I used to live on a council estate in Wales and we saw it all the time, people hanging their dogs off the railings and hitting them with pipes to make them aggressive or putting them in yards and throwing cats and rabbits in to get them riled up and into a killing frenzy. I called the RSPCA so often I had their number on speed dial, but nothing was ever done. I had to move away when they threatened to poison Selkie and my flatmates cat limped home with his leg torn apart and a death threat that we were next tied to his collar.

Something has to be done about that type of PERSON. The move to ban the type of dog, only made them even more desirable. Even with the number of poor pitbully looking dogs taken and euthanised, people are breeding more. Take all the pitbulls away from an area and watch people start backyard breeding their Staff, to their mates rottie and then to their cousins dogue all to create a bigger harder nastier pitbull looking type all the time taunting and training these dogs to be human aggressive. Then leaving these dogs in the yard of or chained to the fence of their nanny's house and acting shocked when the poor thing bites or kills the grandkids. I bet the kid innocently picked up a bit of pipe, or ran in an exciting prey looking way. The dog is not doing what it has been bred to do, it's doing what it has been Raised and trained to do.

There needs to be harsher and stricter penalties for using a dog as a weapon, more investment needs to be put into prosecuting dog fighting.

Any dog can be trained or raised to be aggressive. The worst dog bite injury I have ever seen was on my Mum's ankle and was inflicted by a Border terrier who had been allowed to be an aggressive little monster all his life 'because what harm could he do'!

Take the people off the streets. Not the dogs.

Rant over...

<wild applause>

excellent post from magpye a huge applause from me too

Magpye you are totally right! It's time heavier penaties were clamped out on idiots like you have seen!

Time to kick some ass! Its scary to think that the RSPCA didn't do anything. Not good.

i second that, fantastic post and totally spot on!

Any dog is dangerous is the wrong hands, they all at the end of the day animals.
ATD x

What a fantastic, brilliantly written post. Well done. Much applause from me also!

I'mnot experienced or particularyl knowledgeable about bul breeds in general but my family used to breeds SBTs (many years ago). To me a pit bull is very similar to an overgrown SBT. I've only ever met one so I can only go by what he was like.

He loved other dogs to play with, although he did get very easily over excited. He loved children to bits. He went to training classes and was very obedient. You coudl see on his face that he did whatever he was asked to do with genuine enthusiasm and enjoyment, just to please his owner.

In conclusion, even with my limited experience and very narrow view of pit bulls, I don't think they are dangerous. Well, no more so than the dogs I own now. In the right hands, pit bulls can make some of the most loyal, loving pets. In the wrong hands, they are deadly weapons.

I agree, get rid of the numpties who own them. Difficult I know, but if there were the resources in this Country then potential owners of these dogs could/should be checked out to ensure proepr dog ownership is continued throughout the dog's life (although maybe we should do this for all breeds).

Laura xx

I think they are just dogs.
Any dog can be dangerous, it all depends on the owner/handler.
Absolutely love it when you see pictures or vids of really soppy pit bulls/staffs/bull dogs tho as at the end of the day all dogs have the capability to be the most lovely sweet things if they are handled right and treated with kindness and firm but fair training

The main problem with this breed is its chosen by people who want a mean looking dog or a status symbol....and unfortunately they then breed them too which means the good temperments arent bred from either just any 2 dogs together to make money selling the pups to other people who want a status symbol....

Im sure most people are aware that this happens in the UK with staffies alot.....we have a council estate near us (nothing against this at all) but all the teenagers are strutting round with staffies and having talked to a few when out they all think its fine to breed them with no real thought to where the pups are going. I have been offered pups twice and only lived here 2 months!
I love staffies but its such a shame that they are chosen by people who dont really know much about dogs and just go for the fact they look 'hard' so Im sure the pitbull shares a similar fate.

We also have a problem in yorkshire that Akitas are the next 'hard' dog......my family owned one a fair few years ago and from my experience they are gorgeous dogs but quite dominant and hard to train so you can imagine the trouble these kids get into when they have a full grown Akita on the end of a lead.

Really sad tbh and I hope that no more of these breeds become banned because of ignorance and poor dog handling

Sorry gone a little off topic there really so Ill stop..