My wife, 2 yr old daughter, and my 50lb wirehair were out for a Sunday walk last March when a male pitbull got loose several houses down and across two streets and came running all the way down. He latched on to my dog's neck and never let go and would have killed him had I not kicked the crap out of that dog so many times that I screwed up his hips. My wife took off with my 2 yr old girl. I was scared for my life that he pit would turn on me, but I wasn't going to sit there and watch my dog die, which never fought back. $1,000 surgery later and my dog healed up. Then, a few months later police officers had to shoot 2 different pitbulls in our town.
You say you don't blame the dog, and only the owner. However, both are at fault, as pitbulls have been selectively bread (like all breeds) over the decades to be mean as hell and protective as can be.
Death to all pitbulls! Merry Christmas too.
-Willy