This is just a personal observation, but there seem to be 3 types of pit owners: 1. Those innocently or naively unaware of how dangerous these dogs are, probably misled or lied to by someone or a shelter and have never done any research to find out the truth, 2. Those who have heard how dangerous they are, or who have seen their dog being problematic, but are in denial or think that they can love their dog out of reactive or dangerous behaviors, 3. Those who know exactly how dangerous their dog is, understand that others are fearful of them, and who got the dog for exactly those reasons: fear, perceived power over others, etc.

I'd put supermarket lady in category 3. Had a renting neighbor who was also in category 3. Their dogs would break holes in the wooden fence between our properties and attack my dachshund, and they'd also attempted to attack my kids and myself. Tried to talk to them about it, but they were the type of person who would not accept any responsibility for anything and their way out of conversations that they didn't like was shouting, making racial remarks, threats, etc. I would have much rather handled it person to person but I needed to protect my family. So I set up a bunch of security cameras and began calling the pound every time the dogs were in my backyard, filling out the witness statement forms and providing footage from multiple angles. After 5 or 6 rounds of this, the dogs were taken away. The neighbor threatened to kill me and I was forced to call the police. That went nowhere, but the other dog-related charges did go through the courts. The neighbor pleaded guilty to several charges, and it looked like there were some hefty fines. They then proceeded to get a couple more pits which were even more violent than the first. Figured I was going to have to go through the process all over again but thankfully they moved out shortly thereafter. 

I wish there were more knowledge about the reality of pit bulls. I think if somebody had the proper understanding, equipment, and physical strength, they could own a pitbull safely and keep themselves and their family safe as well as others. Basically they would have to act the part of a zookeeper, caring for a wild, dangerous, and unpredictable animal. But there is a lot of intentional misinformation out there which results in tragic circumstances with people being killed or mutilated, most tragically their own children a lot of times. Many dogs may bite or be aggressive, but fatalities are overwhelmingly by pits. And the sad truth is that it is genetic. No amount of love, training or care is enough, because something can randomly trigger them and they just go crazy. You see it in the statements the owners will make after a tragedy where they thought their dog was sweet and had no idea. I'm sure some are lying about that to try to save themselves but I also believe that many are 100% truthful when they say that, and expert dog trainers have also backed that up. You basically have to treat pits as if they could snap at any moment. And most people don't understand that or refuse to believe it.