Well my father in law has two pit bulls. The second one is recent as of about 6-8 months ago.
The first one's name is Pete. My father in law lives in row homes in Camden, NJ and the person that lived in the house next to them moved and left Pete in the back yard and Pete's sister in the basement. My father in law called the cops, ASPCA and others and no one could go into the house to get the dog out of the basement. Well she died and Pete was so skinny that my father in law went into the back yard and untied him and brought him into his house. He cared for him till Pete was well again and had some meat on his bones. The neighbor returned and heard that my father in law had his dog and the dog looked good so he went over to see the dog. When he saw how good the dog looked he demanded his dog back. Of course my father in law said no and the guy got furious. Everyone knew he wanted to use the dog for fighting so they wouldn't give in. Finally the guy said he had to pay him for the dog, so my father in law gave him money and he left. Now Pete is so fat the vet had to put him on a diet lol. Anyway the other pit bull is a female and is mixed with lab. She was a stray and she was a skeleton when they found her looking for food at their house (they feed the stray cats in Camden so there is always cat food on their porch). They also took in one of the strays when it was a kitten. It would have died in the winter.
They took Pete in about 5 years ago and the cat about 2 years ago, and Sam (the female Pit) about 6-8 months ago. Sam was a puppy when they took her in, but the vet says she is over a year old now. She hasn't been trained and therefore she still acts like a puppy. She romps through their small house (it's 3 stories and a basement but since it's a row home it's really thin and the downstairs only has the living room, kitchen and a small back mud room) and is just clumsy. She has become a bad dog because she hasn't been trained. She is SOOO beautiful and I know she can become a good dog if trained, but my in laws don't know how to train a dog and they aren't teachable (my in laws lol).
Pete on the other hand is a GREAT dog. I was shocked at how friendly this dog was. I heard about their bad rap and when I moved in after the wedding I was scared of him. He is a HUGE dog with a huge head. But I soon found that Pete was friendly and the most damage he does is when he lightly nibbles on you for attention. He pushes on you with his big head too. He can knock you over with that powerful head of his.
Anyway Sam has been teaching Pete how to be bad. Sam chases the cat around and she has gotten Pete to do this as well. They gang up on the cat and my father in law has to separate them. When he came home from work yesterday he found the dogs attacking the cat and the cat bleeding (a little). I guess he's just sick of their trouble making and he wants to get rid of them.
He said he wanted to get rid of Pete last year but he never did. So this might be another one of those times. I just pray that he at least gets rid of Sam. She could be such a good dog in a different home. Pete was content with his life before Sam came along lol. He loved the cat too. My mother in law doesn't want to get rid of the dogs because they keep her company, but they are my father in law's dogs. The cat is hers. So if he wants to get rid of them, she really has no say. I think it's better to get rid of the dogs than the cat anyway (not that they brought that up as an option). So thanks for the links.
Having at least one Pit Bull is a good security system in Camden (now the most violent city in the US). They have a sign that says beware of dog on their door. The city of Camden makes sure you have a sign if you have a Pit and you have to pay a yearly fine on top of registration just because you have a Pit. There have been alot of Pit attacks in that area. Like I said before, the Pits in Camden are used for fighting dogs.
Wow sorry this was so long!