so are pitbulls bad or is it the owners?

Well I always just answer the title and never read the body of the thread LOL, soooo don't ask me.

licensing should restrict poeple from having powerful dogs as driving a car which also has the capability to harm others, you need to know how to raise a dog like this, i realy love 'junior' a blue pitbull in cesar millans tv show the dog whisperer. google 'cesar millan junior' to see an image. hes such an awesome dog. there are many breeds that chomp large peices out of people, rotweilers, mastiffs, cujos. the right solution is strict licensing for powerful breeds, not just to ban one of them. ban them all, ban people from having kids becasue they may grow up and kill someone, it happens too and live in a sealed box, or vote in a goverment that can enable fair laws to protect us from stupid people

AAgreed! I love Ceasar's old pit bull (RIP ) Daddy What a sweetie!

There are few dogs in the world who weren't genetically modified to fit certain necessities, and the pit bull is no exception. Considering that it's mankind who created the breed to be what it is, we should also take responsibility for the result of this selective breeding. There just needs to be a higher level of awareness when aquiring any animal, and continued monitoring of the responsibility of pet owners. Animal aggression can be prevented, but it must first be understood. There are many beautifully natured pit bulls in the world, but these usually belong to people who are aware of the capabailities of any dog. I think awareness and education are the priority, rather than the outright ban.

lol you mentioned rottweilers & bullmastiff's.. I have a dog, that is a cross breed of both.. and he is as harmless as anything.. he wouldn't hurt a fly.. and that's because he was raised to be a good dog, he wasn't raised to be rough or hurt anyone.. hes a good little boy

It is so sad that things like this happen. irresponsible dog owners, they are at fault. But then really at the same time you don't know whether they did take the dog to training and it all just went wrong. I really hope that the future brings many more positive dog training schools. And not just the ones that say they are 'positive', yet continue to tell their dog off in ways not needed.
A dog that will attack this way is obviously not happy, and it is sad to think the life it must have been living.
Education for the public is the key.

■ In 2011 The Population of the United States of America is 310 Million.
(78 million dogs) 5 Pitbulls were responsible for killing persons
8 Total Dog related fatalities
1x Pitbull, 4x Pitbull-types, 2x Rotweiler, 1x Cane Corso

■ In 2011 The Population of Australia is 23 Million
(4 million dogs)
1x Dog related fatality
1x Great White Shark
2x Crocodiles

■ All dogs are predators
Thousands of poeple are injured in australia (not killed by dogs)
This is the real problem

■ Any dog, treated harshly or trained to attack, may bite a person. Any dog can be turned into a dangerous dog. The owner or handler most often is responsible for making a dog into something dangerous.
■ 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.
■ Any individual dog may be a good, loving pet, even though its breed is considered to be potentially dangerous. 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.

In specific relation to the American Pitbul Terrier

Temperament
■ The American Pitbul Terrier is a breed that is loyal to friends and family, and is generally friendly towards strangers.
■ According to the UKC, "aggressive behavior toward humans is uncharacteristic of the breed and highly undesirable."
■ The American Temperament Testing Society shows a pass percentage of 86% for American Pit Bull Terriers as opposed to the Golden Retriever with a temperament of 84.9%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_Pit_Bull_Terrier_-_Seated.jpg

I'm so happy to see pretty much everyone on here agrees it's the owner and NOT the dog. ANY dog of ANY breed can attack. A dog is a product of it's environment.

Everytime there's a dog attack involving a "pit bull" (even though a lot of the time it's not or is a cross breed) it's straight on the news. But what about all the other dog attacks that happen? They're rarely reported. Oh that's right it wasn't a "pit bull" so it doesn't matter. It's ridiculous. People need to stop being a bunch of sheep and stop believing everything they see on TV. I don't see people calling for other breeds to be banned when one attacks someone.

Most people would have a hard time identifying an APBT (including me) and could easily be mistaken. Try to pick the APBT from all these dogs. It took me 4 tries: http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

When you want to know about a certain breed, be it Geman Sheperds, Dobermans, Collies, Jack Russells, ect, who is best to advise you? A person with experience and knowledge of that particular breed.
So as far as I'm concerned, the people we should be listening to are the responsible APBT owners. They own these dogs. They know these dogs. They have experience with these dogs. Not fear mongering idiots or idiot politicians who want to make out like they're doing something about reducing dog attacks.

Here's The American Temperament Test Society site: http://atts.org/ In which the APBT passed at a rate of 86.4%. Better than a lot of other breeds. Including Collies, Golden Retrievers, Dalmatians, pomeranians, ect.

Here's a site with all the myths answered and information about the breed. Also videos showing just how loving and great APBT can be. And a bite force comparison in which the Rottweiler had the strongest bite.

Please watch these. They make me so sad. These dogs are beautiful and deserve better. So do their owners.

Also Pit Boss on Animal Planet is a great show and again shows how great they really are.

http://www.realpitbull.com/center.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCSh8f8V66g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtkIkK4RtYU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJueekvhRDI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBFIozOe4AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADDxe24ud90