The difference is that when say a beagle, bird dog, whatever bites you, it won't cause severe lacerations. A pit bull's jaws have the ability to clamp down on something. It's unlike any other breed.
From Sports Illustrated, 1987:
Quote:
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G BITES MAN isn't news, they say, but PIT BULL BITES MAN is. Unfortunately the pit bull, when it attacks, doesn't merely bite man -- or, most horribly, child -- it clamps its powerful jaws down and literally tears its victim apart. ''The injuries these dogs inflict are more serious than other breeds because they go for the deep musculature and don't release; they hold and shake,'' says Sheryl Blair of the Tufts Veterinary School, in North Grafton, Mass., which last year held a symposium entitled Animal Agression: Dog Bites and the Pit Bull Terrier. ''Most breeds do not multiple-bite,'' says Kurt Lapham, a field investigator for the West Coast Regional office of the Humane Society. ''A pit bull attack is like a shark attack: He keeps coming back.'' ''A pit bull,'' says Judge Victor E. Bianchini of San Diego, '' is the closest thing to a wild animal there is in a domesticated dog."
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In that same year, there were 18 fatalities due to dog attacks. Of those, 67% were caused by Pit Bull Terriers.
Here's the rest of the article -- you'll find it to be a pretty fair assessment of the risk involved with the breed:
http://www.dogexpert.com/Popular%20P...ullfriend.html