Some good points brought up here re: pitbulls.
Now, I have had dogs and other animals all my life. Very fond of dogs, even though as a young paperboy, I was attacked twice on my route by a Great Dane & a Norwegian Elkhound. I don't think pitbulls were as popular at the time, circa 1973. (Another paperboy, who was a good friend of mine, almost literaly lost his nuts when he was attacked by a bull mastif. The dog's mouth was so big, the bite mark to his groin actually encircled his junk.
Of course, things like this never made the news back then, and lawsuits were almost unheard of.)
But I think any responsible pit owner has to agree that even
if all the anecdotal evidence is wrong; even
if pits attack no more often than any other breed, the severity of the attacks are almost always much, much worse. That's why, overall, they're labeled as a dangerous breed.
Almost every breed was bred for a specific purpose. It's hard-wired into their DNA. It would be like trying to get a Pointer not to point, or a Retriever not to retrieve.
No matter how much you love your pit, no amount of "nurture over nature" is going to change that fighting instinct. They're always the greatest dog in the world, until that moment when instinct finally kicks in, and they just snap.
In this state: RCW 16.08.100 (3)
"The owner of any dog that aggressively attacks and causes severe injury or
death of any human, whether or not the dog has previously been declared potentially
dangerous or dangerous, shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a class C felony punishable
in accordance with RCW 9A.20.021."
RCW 9A.20.021 --"(c) For a class C felony, by confinement in a state correctional institution for five years, or by a fine in an amount fixed by the court of ten thousand dollars, or by both such confinement and fine."
