You’ve probably heard many stories of the dangerous, vicious pit bull, but the term is very much a misnomer. There is no purebred pit bull. It is a term used to categorize dogs of various and mixed breeds.There are many laws that apply to pit bull mixes, and courts have tried many times to clarify what is or isn’t a pit bull because even DNA testing isn’t always accurate.Three types of purebred dogs are lumped together as pit bulls: the American pit bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier and the Staffordshire Bull terrier. Other breed mixes that are grouped into the pit bull category are the American Bulldog, the Dogo Argentino, the Presa Canario and the Cane Corso.But the general opinion of what makes a pit bull is any dog with a big head, muscular body and strong jaw; many of those are mixed breeds.“There actually is no such thing as a pure breed pit bull,” said Cory Smith, director of pet protection and policy at the Humane Society of the United States. “It’s not a breed o...
