I feel both ways about pit bulls. The ones I've known have been the MOST adorable dogs. Really, the most adorable. My college boyfriend had a roommate with a pit bull, named Kahlua, and she was the coolest dog on the planet. Sweetest, most loving, smartest. The other pit bull I've known well was owned by the owner of a skate park here in Austin. He was a big old brawny muscular dog, absolutely the sweetest thing on earth. He loved on the kids who paid attention to him, and left the ones alone who didn't initiate contact with him. He put up with being skated into, and skated over, and whooshed by, and loud bangs here and there in the indoor park with great humor. He calmly watched kids zooming past him on bikes and licked the faces of kids who came up from behind him and grabbed him. Amazing dog.
THe thing that gets me, is you can't tell with these dogs. I swear, some have a ticking time bomb inside them and YOU CAN'T TELL if they're about to blow up. Percentage wise it's not many that blow up but when they do, you can't stop their attack easily - usually it takes actually killing them.
I'd love to have one, based on the ones I've known, but I never will because I swear it's like a random brain chip they have. And suddenly, like programmed, BAMM they go off. Or they don't, they live their entire lives as sweet dear dogs. You can't tell. Unlike chows and german shepherds and collies who attack, everyone knows all along the ones that are likely to attack, and an adult with a club can stop the attack.
It's so sad.