Despite more than a half dozen pit bull attacks in the Bay Area this month - and 900 pit bull attacks nationwide in the past three years - people like Howard Griffith still believe the problem lies with dog owners, not dogs.

Griffith, interviewed recentlly on the SF State campus, said he believes if one would treat a dog with respect, then the dog would not be aggressive. But he also said he believes the maliciousness of pit bulls depends on whether the owner is with them or not, and how well the owners have trained their dogs.

"(Pit bulls) seem menacing when they are alone," said Griffith. "If (pit bulls) are by themselves, (I'm scared of them), but if they're with their owners, then no."

But Griffith doesn't always trust pit bull owners either.

"Bad owners, not bad dogs," said Griffith.

Earlier this week, five pit bulls were quarantined after attacking three people and one dog, a boxer, in East Oakland, according SFGate.com. As many as three pit bulls bit one five-year-old boy's hand.

Another pit bull bit a twelve-year-old girl's arm several times, after chasing her down while she was riding her bicycle. A fifth pit bull jumped out of the window of a motor home and attacked a man walking his two boxers on the sidewalk, according to the report.

To date, eight people have been injured in the Bay Area this month.

A pit bull attack occurred June 15 when Tommie Munoz, 66, was arguing with her son, Steven Alvarado. Munoz's dog, King, attacked Alvarado and then attacked Munoz after she attempted to intervene. Doctors were unable to repair large parts of the mother's legs.

On June 23, in Santa Rosa, a young girl and her mother were attacked by a pit bull, according to news reports. The young girl suffered lacerations across the right side of her face and injuries on her neck and arms.

Asrat Yemane, a SF State student, said he thinks the problem is with the dogs themselves.

“I think that (pit bulls) are dangerous,” said Asrat Yemane. When asked if laws should be made against pit bulls, Yemane said, “Yes, they should, but only against dangerous dogs.”

Although he has not been bitten by a pit bull, Yemane was bitten by a German Shepherd when he was 7 years old. The incident left him with a lingering fear of dogs.

Yemane said he also believes the pit bull mauling issue is being perptuated by the media. Mim Carlson, the director of Berkeley's Humane Society, agrees.

“Now, whenever a dog bites a person it gets in the media right away,” Carlson said. “(The media) responds to this story like other stories. The media reacts really fast to the pit bull maulings.”

Carlson has worked with pit bulls before. One positive experience Carlson had was with a stray pit bull named Sweetum.

“Sweetum had a broken leg and was a really sweet pit bull. A lovely family then adopted it,” said Carlson.

Donna Drago, a volunteer at a Bay Area guide dog training center, said she believes owners are responsible for training their dogs not to attack people.

“[It] depends on the person with the pit bull,” said Drago.

Amitabh Srivastava, a graduating senior majoring in business and psychology at SF State, saw a lot of stray dogs while growing up in India.

“If you show dogs the respect the way you show humans, dogs will be nicer,” said Srivastava.