Because their stereotype can attract shitty owners who want a badass dog but can't be assed to train or care for them.

Or they literally abuse, possibly even with dogfights, and abandon them.

Because most people can't identify one and use it for any mid size dog.

See: Rottweiler, doberman in previous years.

Ah yes, I see. You have made assertions that align with the typical narrative and stereotype around a breed of dogs, then demonstrated the assertion's validity by stating it is a belief held in your neighborhood.

I have completely changed my mind and will now ignore all of my own experiences and knowledge on the topic because a random person asserted a stereotype and stated that people believe and act on a stereotype. I guess that's it. Debate over.

None of them have kids, but I've spent a lot of time around my friends and their dogs. They are just dogs. Many of them are extremely affectionate. When I was a kid my family had a German Shepherd with showdog lineage and my mother had a lifetime of experience of owning and training dogs. Our shepherd exhibited substantially more aggression than any of my friends' pitbulls.

Yes, big, strong dogs can do more harm than smaller dogs and pitbulls can be big and strong. That does make them capable of being more dangerous if something goes wrong. I can't argue with that. However, the mentality is that pitbulls are inherently violent or behave violently by natur is what I call bullshit on.

Pitbulls are regarded as dangerous and vicious. They are also abused and subjected to fighting by their owners because that is their reputation. It's so fucked up. Then, bad owners want a scary dog, treat it poorly, don't train it and when it acts like any mistreated, traumatized animal would the world declares it inherently violent. There is such a thing as a self fulfilling prophecy.

Hell, one friend has a pit mix that is like < 30 lbs, full grown. I've never seen it do anything any other dog wouldn't do. Still, he's extremely careful with it because of the prejudice people have against the breed. Once I was hiking with him and another man with his own dog crossed our path. My friend stepped off the path and kept the dog seated and on a short leash in an attempt to reassure the guy well before he got close to us. The guy immediately asked my friend if his dog was a pitbull and berated him as he passed, furious that my friend would be irresponsible enough to own a pitbull.

Many of the people in this thread remind me of that man.

Another story. One of my coworkers paid thousands of dollars in vet bills for their neighbor in order to stop them from trying to get my coworkers dog put down (and it wasn't one of those "scary" breeds). All because the neighbors small, aggressive dog charged the bigger dog. In its attempt to get away, the bigger dog scrambled and accidentally stepped on the smaller dog and injured it. A poorly trained, off leash small dog almost cost a perfectly average dog it's life because the owners didn't bother to restrain it... but the bad owners made out in the end.

One last story. I was hiking with the tankiest, strongest pitbull of all the ones I know. This guy doesn't want anything to do with other dogs. It's not aggressive - it's frightened. We came across another hiker with their dog... the hiker said his dog was friendly and my friend immediately stated that their dog wasn't interested in making new friends. The hiker ignored the statement and let go of their dog's leash, letting the dog rush the pitbull tank barking and running circles around it. The pitbull panicked and couldn't get away and my friend had to try to keep the other dog away from the pitbull for the pitbull's sake. No harm was done beyond a poor, stressed out pitbull and a pissed off friend.

Should pitbulls exist? I'm indifferent, especially when it comes to purebreds. That doesn't mean that I want them exterminated or left to rot in shelters. Just let dogs be dogs. Try to make sure puppies come out healthy and worry less about whether they look the way you want them to.

Even if they were psychologically identical to every other dog

That's literally my point - they basically are. I won't argue that pitbulls are more capable of harming someone due to their physical characteristics. That's just physics.

Horses are also large, powerful animals and they cause at least a few deaths every year by trampling or kicking humans when provoked, spooked, startled, or whatever - I'm not really a horse person. Obviously, large powerful animals can absolutely cause more damage than lap-sized animals. That doesn't mean they are the equivalent of a monster from a horror movie that could rip someone to shreds at any moment with no provocation. Not does it mean that anyone who owns one is an irresponsible, naive threat to society.

If you are a responsible owner, the dog or horse isn't an unreasonable danger.

Sorry you feel personally attacked when someone says pitbulls are dangerous.

I don't feel personally attacked, but many other people feel personally attacked when someone questions their opinion on pitbulls. I just feel bad for the animals.

Those of us who have adopted and loved pitbulls for their entire doggie lives know that pitties aren't inherently violent. People who have been victimized as a result of people's mistreatment of these very powerful dogs don't know that.

Liberal Portland, Oregon is filled with pitbulls, but it is not filled with lifted trucks. The city is just aware of how great they can be when you don't abuse them into being bad citizens.

My pit died last year at old age from cancer. He was a sweetie who never did anything violent. We have a puppy now (corgi mix, hilarious clown of a dog), but I still miss my lunkhead every day. There's something different about them and the way they need to cuddle at every moment of the day.

True but also not true. Pitbulls are a very deceiving risk. With a properly trained pitbull and owner the pitbull is unlikely to cause an injury, however if it does the injury is critical or lethal. Low chance, high impact. There are tons of stories about children being killed by their pitbull because today was the unlucky day that part of the pitbulls brain triggered and they went for the kill. It's irresponsible to own a pitbull if you have small children. Pitbulls are great, although they're a very challan dog to own which requires a diligent owner.

Until they snap and will attack your children out of the blue. So many stories of good owners with well behaving pit bulls that attack their owners.

I have no real comment on the aggressiveness of pitbulls. I have a dog we think is a dalmatian/pitbull mix and she's terrified of pretty much any humans other than us and a handful of others (she is especially afraid of men), which might look like aggression from a distance, but she would run away the second they got closer to her.

On the other hand, she's a serial killer of small animals and she recently got in a fight with our other dog (she's 11 and grumpy and in pain from bad arthritis) and tore his ear. So she certainly can be aggressive.

On the other hand, we used to have a roommate with a purebred dalmation and she was super aggressive.

So is the aggression she does show because of the pitbull part of the mix? The dalmatian part? Is it just her? I have no idea.

I do know I found a dog at the shelter who needed a loving home and I gave it to her. Which is the only way anyone should get a dog at this point.