I swore I was going to stay out of this, but I'm changing my mind...
Yes, bully types do have a higher number of bites reported than other breeds, but if you take into account the fact that there are WAY more bullies than most other breeds due to over-breeding....Over-breeding means poor breeding in many cases, which is one thing that often leads to poor temperament...They are over-bred because some numbskulls think the dogs make them look "cool"...so those people don't take the time to socialize their dogs, and many of them spend their lives on chains...and the fact that ANY short haired, broad-skulled dog who bites a person is reported as a pit bull, I'll bet the number would be significantly lower. These statistics are deeply flawed because of the breed misidentification alone. There was a dog involved in a fatal attack in my area a few years ago who was reported as a pit bull. A few days later the shelter said "oops, no, he's a purebred American Bulldog!"...but the media did nothing to fix their earlier claim, thus for weeks people went on about the "horrible pit bull".
I want to see pictures of the two dogs involved in the attack. It would not surprise me to see American Bulldogs, Dogo Argentinos, Black Mouth Curs, or mutts. It WOULD surprise me to see an APBT.
I cry bull on the people who claim that their dog has never shown any signs of aggression before an attack. The red flags are there if you know what to look for. The problem is (sometimes at least) that bully types were bred to keep their warning signs subtle, so as not to set off the other dog in the ring. Someone who is not experienced might not notice the slightly stiffened posture, tail carriage, etc. My mom's poodle mix though...when he is annoyed he displays his teeth, an obvious indication to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that he's upset. Plus, so many dogs of ANY breed involved in attacks have spent their lives on a chain in a backyard. That's enough to drive any dog insane, especially an intelligent, busy dog like a bully. California recently passed anti-chaining laws, and I'm interested to see how that affects the number of bites each year.
I haven't been over EVERY post, so I don't know if this has been posted, but here:
Find the Pit Bull. It took me multiple tries, and I LOVE the breed.
Another issue that seems to be getting ignored is that animal aggression does NOT equal human aggression. A lot of bully dogs are reactive to other dogs. Not all of them by any means, but a higher percentage than most breeds certainly. People who own them seem to think that just because Fifi hasn't snipped at another dog, she never will. The pit bull rescue I follow has made it clear over and over that it only takes one incident of a bully becoming overstimulated during playtime for those instincts to come roaring to the surface. For that reason, they recommend playtime with dogs you are familiar with, NOT dog parks. For that reason, I avoid letting my dog play with bullies in the dog park. We have several bullies in the "play group" we meet with, and I have never ever worried about them hurting my dog, but I do believe that in general a dog park is not a great idea.
Bad Rap is the rescue I follow. They do careful temperament testing on all of their animals. They did the temperament testing on the Vick animals. They do euthanize any dog in their program who shows itself to be unsuitable for adoption (usually fearful dogs). And they are doing their best to help debunk myths and spread responsible bullydog ownership. Mandatory training is a must for any big bouncy dog, if nothing else to make sure they don't bounce on someone hard enough to knock them over.
Banning the breed is stupid. All it's going to do is hurt responsible people and their family pets. Does anyone really believe that the kind of person who keeps bullies to look "tough" is going to give up their dogs just because the laws change? I don't. Eventually, they'll just pick another breed to ruin anyways.
My opinion is that what we need is stricter licensing laws, stiff fines for unaltered dogs of any breed, and LOTS of education and free/low-cost training classes. BAD RAP has gone into neighborhoods with a bad reputation for aggressive dogs and TONS of bullies and found that lots of people there do love their dogs and just don't know that training is important and that dogs are unhappy outside on a chain. Every year they go and people can turn in their chains for a nice buckle collar and lead, get free training advice, spay/neuter vouchers (WHICH GET USED!!), and vaccines. There are some people out there who genuinely don't care, but there are also a LOT of people who are just ignorant about their dogs' basic needs...and given the chance and the education they will do the right thing. That is how we will see a drop in dog bites, not by committing genocide.
