My 30 pound dog was attacked by three unleashed pit bulls

[Ligyron]

242. Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover or Appearances Can Be Deceiving

That's part of the problem: neither the relevant authorities nor the public can figure it out either. Hence, certain segments of society and Animal Control both are burdened with dogs they think are "Pit Bulls".

No copyright on the name, that's for sure, and there's lots of Bully looking dogs running around looking scary.

There are the usual registries for dogs, AKC, UKC. They have the standards you refer to for their various versions of a "Pit Bull".

If dogs which are used for fighting are registered at all, it will be with the American Dog Breeders Association. That's a fine organization that has nothing to do with dog fights and they do have a Standard and hold Dogshows for APBT's too.

However, many times the owners of actual pit animals have no desire to "register" or reveal the breeding behind their particular Family of dogs (except to a chosen few) and few members of the public will ever see such dogs and fewer still would recognize them as such if they ever did see one. F.I., one Family of dogs tend to produce animals with long ears, kinda like a hound.

You aren't being foolish at all, yours is the usual conception of this animal -- which is a perfectly reasonable one given the information that's widely available. My goal here is simply to inform, not to criticize you personally.

One hears so many wild stories, tall tales -- like how dog fighters steal people's pets for use in "training" their dogs to kill. Of course, some morons with "pit bulls, upon hearing this tale, have gleefully attempted to put this idea into practice. Oh, then there's the rumor that dog fighters go around stealing people's poor house pets to actually use in "dog fights". Yeah, that would work.

The ASPCA is the worst at this crap, especially when they need money.

Sorry I went off on a lecture.

Peace