The good thing about most shelter type establishments is they wont place a dog unless it is desexed. If someone is going to get a dog then I think better they get one which can't perpetuate the population than not have the option and have to get one from someone who breeds and then not get around to getting them desexed and have another dozen puppies to deal with. I really don't think rescues are a very big part of the problem. They could tidy their act up with a little more knowledge and then they would be presenting a favourable perspective for the breed. I think there needs to be less emphasis on "responsible" breeders and "others". Who decides who is a responsible breeder? If you ask anyone who breeds they will almost always claim to be responsible. The fact is a breeder is a breeder and if the pups they breed end up in someone elses hands they have no control over how the dog is treated or the situations it finds itself in. I think the real problem with image around these parts is not the dogs but the people who own them. The best way to cure the image here would be to take the dogs from everyone who owns them and not let them ever own another animal. I have heard it from so many people when I'm in the apbt community. An owner has one of their other dogs with a litter and they are really glad they "won't have to deal with these people (apbt patrons)". Set up a gas chamber and announce a pitbull carnival for everyone interested in everything to do with the dogs. Overnight the problem would go away. It is owners who are the problem. Almost everyone here is an owner. It is surely wishful thinking if we think that we don't shoulder some responsibility for the situation.