Short, stocky and muscular, the pit bullterrier has a reputation for viciousness, so much so that Adventurer-Author Jack London once characterized it as "clinging death." Bred as a dogged fighter, the pit bull uses powerful jaws to grip and shake its victim until the flesh tears loose.
Unfortunately some pit bulls have been unleashing that aggression on humans. As 18-month-old Claremont Brown lay by his mother's feet in the backyard of a family friend's home two weeks ago in Westminster, Calif., he was set upon by a pit bull. Dragging the child 20 feet before his mother could intervene, the dog...