A book judged by its COVER

The dog that we now recognize as the pit bull was originally bred in Britain in the early 1800's to 'bait' bulls. Bait matches were held for the entertainment of the struggling classes, serving as a source of relief from the tedious and brutal way of life suffered by many commoners during that time. In 1835 bull baiting was deemed inhumane and became illegal, and dog fighting became a popular replacement.

The best fighters were celebrated and revered as heroes for their courage and fortitude during battle. At the same time a very strong bite inhibition towards humans was encouraged through selective breeding so that handlers could lean into the fighting pits and pull their battling dogs apart without worrying about receiving a redirected bite. Partially because of this breeding effort, which culled out "man biters", pit bulls became well known for their loving devotion and trustworthy nature with humans.

The breeding history of Pit Bulls makes it impossible to rule out a violent propensity for any one dog as gameness and aggressiveness can be hidden for years. Given the Pit Bull's genetically physical strengths and abilities, a Pit Bull always poses the possibility of danger; given the Pit Bull's breeding history as a fighting dog and the latency of its aggressiveness and gameness, the Pit Bull poses a danger distinct from other breeds of dogs which do not so uniformly share those traits.

To me this is a very popular breed and rarely attacks. Pit Bulls are very powerful animals, so when something does go wrong, it usually makes the news. Almost all Pit Bull attacks have involved unaltered Pit Bulls, so it is very important to have your Pit Bull spayed or neutered as soon as possible. Additionally, serious Pit Bull attacks rarely involve spayed/neutered Pit Bulls who have received proper training and socialization.