Pit bull/Pit bull mixes kill toddler.

[Liberty Belle]

54. Absolutely right. I'm a news editor and 99% of dog attacks reported here are pit bulls

or pit bull mixes. All but one fatal dog attack we've had in recent years in our area, one of the largest counties in the U.S. were by pit bulls, too. In many of these cases the owners insisted these were sweet dogs not raised to be mean. They just don't realize that the dogs were bred to be killers, and anything or nothing can trigger the attack instinct.

A friend of mine was once talking on the phone with his son, warning him he should get rid of his pit bull. The son, who was walking his dog at the time, insisted his was a friendly dog that would never hurt a flea. Suddenly he had to get off the phone - because his dog had just attacked and seriously mauled another dog being walked nearby.

I've had to report on an elderly lady who died after a triple amputation caused by her neighbors' pit bulls attacking. And a baby who died after having its face chewed off. The list goes on and on.

While I don't advise leaving a baby or toddler alone with ANY animal, since small children may inadvertently provoke even the best of pets to react in self defense, pit bulls are particularly dangerous due to their breeding and when they do attack, it's hard to pull them off or stop the attack - it just goes on and on and sometimes the person intervening gets hurt, too.

People who insist these dogs are safe if properly raised are living in Fantasyland. Much as you may want that to be the case, it is simply not true. They are ticking time bombs. Sure, there are people who have pit bulls that don't ever attack. They are lucky. There are people who smoke their whole lives and don't get cancer, but that doesn't mean it's not extremely risky.