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I am heavily involved in animal rescue and have seen this issue from both sides.
The "bully" breeds have a horrible reputation, sometimes deserved and sometimes not. Depending on their breeding, they can be wonderful, loyal, and safe family dogs when raised in a loving home.
Unfortunately, this is far too often NOT THE CASE! You know that bullies are commonly raised and trained by the most evil of our society to fight and kill.
These dogs are very commonly specifically bred to be vicious attack dogs, baited & trained to fight and inflict the worst possible damage. The worst, most aggressive dogs are chosen by dog fighters to breed, so these "bad" genes are perpetuated throughout the breed. Even the ones that wash out because they aren't mean enough are never safe enough to be placed in a pet home.
Yes, people are responsible for ruining this breed. Unfortunately, there is no way to really know if these dogs are safe unless you know the pedigree for many generations.
A related issue is that it is very common for dog fighters to steal pets to use them to "blood train" their fighting dogs. Aggressive bullies are also used to guard drug houses, creating danger for everyone in the community.
It is almost impossible to find and close down the dog fighting rings. Unfortunately the only way cities have to try to end this problem is to ban the breed.
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