Saw this on a friend's LJ.

[wendybeth]

My mom had a chow named Pooh who was the most viscious little bastard around. That thing would bite you if you looked at it wrong, yet she would excuse it with a "He's just protective" or "He was provoked". The only thing Pooh had going for him was that he had the good sense to only bite family members- I used to pray that some poor non-relative would get bit so she would have to do something about him, but it never happened. (Mostly because she never let him around anyone else). The dog was gorgeous, but a real asshole.

I think the big concern with pitbulls is the locked-jaw thing. When they bite, they often lock up their jaws and they have to be beaten senseless or killed before they let go. That's scary, but then so is the tendency for Akita's to go for the throat. If everyone just took care of their animals and used caution when around other dogs, the problem would be a lot less severe. Never assume your sweet little pup would never attack someone, because any of them can, at any time, for a variety of reasons. We make sure Mellie- our lovebug large model dog who has never even nipped at anyone- is always restrained when anyone new comes over, and then is introduced to the new person before we let her loose. When she started jumping the fence we had to get a long lead and hook it up to the deck. You get to know your animal as best you can, and make sure they don't get into a situation where something bad can happen.

In additon, I think these laws are asanine- they are overreacting in a major and very innapppropriate way. Hold the owners liable for their dogs actions, and it's amazing how quickly most will conform. Educate the public to report aggressive dogs, and notify the owners that the dogs will be put down and the owners severely fined for any infractions. Criminalise deliberate animal neglect, especially if it leads to any injuries. Going around and slaughtering 'profiled' dogs is just so wrong, on so many levels.