tHelpful reports that the pit bull is banned more frequently than any other breed — despite the fact that it’s not actually a singular breed. The term “pit bull” actually applies to several breeds and mixes of breeds, but all of them face stigmas as “aggressive” and “dangerous.” PetHelpful notes, “Every time there is a biting incident, especially if it is serious, a pit bull is blamed. It does not matter if the dog is not a pit bull, since no matter what the dog breed involved, if no one identifies the dog it is assumed to be a pit bull.”

Pit bulls get the blame not just because people have a bias against these dogs, but also because they’re biased against these dogs’ owners. The Washington Post reports that bans on pit bulls and other breed-specific legislation seem to surface in areas that experience major demographic changes; they write that these laws may “be proxies by which uneasy majorities can register their suspicions about the race, class and ethnicity of the people who own those dogs.”