The American Staffordshire Terrier is not a new breed. Although it gained American Kennel Club registration and recognition in 1936, it has been developed since the early 1800's as a result of crosses between the bulldogs of that time and game terriers. One of the early and very famous AKC registered Staffs was Pete the Pup, (real name Lucenay's Peter), dog star of the original Our Gang comedies of the 1930's.

Although the early ancestors of this breed came from England, the development of the American Staffordshire Terrier is the story of a truly American breed. This type of dog was instrumental in the success of farmers and settlers who developed this country. They were used for general farm work, hunting wild pigs, bears, and other large game, guarding the homestead, and general companionship.

A number of the early ancestors were also developed for the "sport" of dog fighting. The extraordinary vitality of this breed is a direct result of breeding for successful fighting dogs. This now illegal activity is, unfortunately, more often cited as the early purpose of the dogs rather than the general farm work.

Although ancestors of the American Staffordshire were fighting dogs, the selective breeding since the 1930's has been away from the fighting heritage. The American Staffordshire Terrier of today is a companion and show dog, rather than a gladiator. Although more rarely used on the farm now, the talents that made him a good all purpose dog are still to be found in the breed.

(Thanks to the AKC for the above info.) 

-Although there are no accurate or even near accurate census records for dogs in the U.S., in some populations pit bulls are estimated to comprise some 30-40% of the dog population, making it by FAR the most popular breed. Considering that there are an estimated 53,000,000 dogs in the U.S. and assuming that pit bulls make up 20% of that population, there would be approximately 10,600,000 pit bulls in our society. In 1998, give pit bulls were involved in 2 fatal attacks. That is roughly ONE dog out of 2,120,000 or .00004716 percent of the put bull population.

-Over the 32-year period from 1965-2001, Pit Bulls have been blamed for/accused of an average of 2.48 human fatalities per year.

-About 40 people (children) per year die of drowning in 5-gallon water pails. A person, during their lifetime, is 16 times more likely to drown in a 5-gallon water pail than be killed by a Pit Bull.

-Approximately 50 children in the U.S. are killed every year by their cribs, 25 times the number of children and adults killed by Pit Bulls.

-Approximately 150 people are killed every year by falling coconuts. Therefore, you are more than 60 times for likely to be killed by a PALM TREE than a Pit Bull.

-Each year, 350 people drown in their bathtubs, You are 151 times more likely to be killed in your bathtub than you are by a Pit Bull.

-It is estimated that 5,000,000 dogs per year are killed in shelters. Since in many places pit bulls make up 30-50% of the shelter population, and are less likely to be considered for placement than any other breed, guessing that 25% of those dogs killed are pit bulls is  a very conservative estimate. Therefore it can be assumed that roughly 1,250,000 pit bulls are killed per year. Therefore, it's at least a HALF MILLION TIMES MORE LIKELY that a Pit Bull will be killed by a HUMAN than the other way around.

-The average number of people killed by a Pit Bull each year is 3.

-It can be estimated that for every Pit Bull who kills, there are 10.5 MILLION THAT DON'T!

This country wants to ban/destroy 10.5 million innocent dogs for the  actions of 0.94% of it's category?