Common sense. Don't leave your child unsupervised with any animal regardless of size. Teach your child to respect the animal and not to antagonize it or whatever. Who knows if this particular dog was unsocialized with kids or just mentally unbalanced. Who knows if the child was provoking the dog or not. And always train your dog!
The reason why we hear so many 'pit bull' bite/attack stories is because there's just so many 'pits' out there. Especially since it's a group of breeds rather than one individual breed. I bet if there was a poll or statistic on actual true APBTs, it would be less than a handful total over the past decade. Most people have never even seen a true purebred APBT. Most are mutts or other breeds.
A few years ago, the Labrador Retriever made it to #1 breed for bites. But that's simply because they are one of the most populated breeds in the country. We all know they're not an aggressive breed as a whole. They've always been the top #1 or #2 registered AKC breed at least. There's just so many of them so of course the ratio of breed individuals to bites is going to be relatively noticeable. If all breeds had similar numbers, we'd notice their bite statistics too.
Many pit dogs are good dogs. They are loyal and please their owners. However, some are still genetically predisposed to be high driven animals since they are terriers . And high driven animals can be some of the most dangerous if unsocialized, unbalanced, or unstable.
And unfortunately, with all the back yard breeding going on, there are so many dogs that are unworthy of being bred that are being bred. Dogs that aren't properly temperament tested or health tested. Unstable dogs being bred simply because they have a desirable color or trait. Or folks just looking for a quick buck. This goes for all breeds, not just pits.
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