Jeremy BednarshSan Diego, California

PITBULL FACTS

When the Amer ican Temperament Test ing Soc iety , Inc . tested the Amer ican Pi t Bul l Terr ie r for s tab i l i ty , aggress ion and f r iendl iness , they rece ived a pass ing grade of 86 .8 percent , beat ing go lden ret r ievers , co l l ies , and beagles .

Out of the 122 breeds tested, p i tbul l s came in 4 t h !

Pi t bu l l s a re known for the i r loya l ty and companionsh ip .

In teres t ing ly , i t ’ s th i s qua l i ty o f loya l ty wh ich has been the i r downfa l l in the pub l i c eye . When bad owners t reat them horr ib le and t ra in them to fi ght , they become aggress ive .

By nature though, they are very f r iend ly and aff ect ionate .

Pi t bu l l s have been sub ject to d iscr iminat ion and breed-spec ifi c leg is la t ion . Such laws don’ t d is t ingu ish exact ly what breed they are target ing , so the Amer ican Staff ordsh i re Terr ier , Amer ican Pi t Bu l l Terr ier , S taff ordsh i re Bu l l Terr ier are a l l ta rgeted.

Th is leg is la t ion is based so le ly on unsupported op in ion . The Nat iona l Can ine Research Counc i l has conc luded there is no sc ient ifi c ev idence that one dog breed is more l ike ly than another to harm a human.

Pi t bu l ls were used as imagery for the U .S. Mi l i tary on war posters , featured as ce lebrated companions wi th stars l ike Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacal l . Pi t bu l ls have been used to contr ibute to and g ive back to soc iety throughout law enforcement and for hospi ta l v is i ts , therapy for aut is t ic ch i ldren, and search and rescue miss ions.