Girl Killed by Family's Beloved Pet Bulldog

John Faherty The Arizona Republic

(Phoenix) - Tori Whitehurst loved her dog, Cane. She played with him constantly, and he slept in her room every night.

The 4-year-old girl's love of animals, and Cane's love for her, only makes her death more tragic and inexplicable.

Tori was killed Monday afternoon when the family pet, an American bulldog, attacked her in the family's backyard. One day after her death, Ian and Carin Whitehurst sat in their expansive north Valley home and tried to make sense of what happened to their daughter.

They wanted people to know that Tori was fun and adventurous. That her nickname was Tori-tornado. That she dressed as a cheerleader for Halloween and that her favorite color was blue.

"She was a funny, funny girl. She was my crazy baby," said Carin, 36. "She knew 'stupid' was a bad word and 'hate' was a bad word."

"I will remember her joy," said Ian, also 36. "She was always so happy."

Fatal dog attacks are rare. A 5-year-old girl was killed by a pack of dogs in Show Low in 2005, but the Arizona Humane Society could not think of other recent cases in Arizona. Even more surprising is that Cane had been evaluated by Humane Society experts who said he was adoptable.

On Monday afternoon, Tori and her sister were playing in the backyard with Cane plus three small dogs the Whitehursts were watching for Ian's father who was recently injured in a motorcycle accident.

When the family's nanny went into the house to get the girls' shoes, Cane attacked Tori.

The nanny screamed for the dog to let go.

She tried to pull him off. She stabbed him with scissors and hit him with a pool cue. But nothing worked.

"She feels terrible," Ian said of the nanny. "She doesn't deserve this. It's not her fault. It's nobody's fault. It just happened."

After receiving a 911 call from the nanny, Maricopa County sheriff's deputies arrived at the home north of Happy Valley Road.

They had to shoot the dog in order to get to Tori because the animal was still acting aggressively.

"Sheriff Joe (Arpaio) told us they had to shoot him seven times," Ian said.

Carin is a financial consultant for Mutual of Omaha. She was at work when the attack happened.

Ian was at his job at Schumacher Mercedes-Benz in Scottsdale when he got a frantic call from a neighbor who heard the gunshots.

"I raced home but couldn't get near the house because everything was shut down so the helicopter could land," Ian said. He followed the helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center.

"She was gone by the time I got there," Ian said.

Cane, a 2-year-old male, was the family's second American bulldog.

The first, Diesel, had been a family pet for 10 years.

After Diesel was put down because of cancer, family friends called the Whitehursts and said they knew of a dog that looked just like Diesel that was available.

On Tuesday, the Arizona Humane Society said Cane was brought into one of their facilities in March. Cane's foster family described him as a "snuggle bug" and said "he is the sweetest dog ever," the organization said.

Speaking for the society, Kim Noetzel said that the dog was "fully evaluated by three behaviorists" and that he showed no signs of aggression.

He was, however, a large dog, already weighing more than 100 pounds.

The dog was placed with a person, who was not identified, who likely gave the dog to the Whitehursts in June.

A study of fatal dog bites by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that there were more than 330 dog-bite-related fatalities in the United States between 1979 and 1996.

Most of the victims were children, and more than half involved unrestrained dogs on the owners' property.

The study also stated that, each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs. These bites result in approximately 16 fatalities.

The CDC concluded that non-fatal dog bites are a public-health problem in the United States. The problem is that any dog can bite, even if most will not.

"When you consider the fact that there are 61 million dogs in the United States, it becomes clear that dog-bite prevention is very important," Dr. Roger Mahr, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, said in May during National Dog Bite Prevention Week.

"The only known cures for dog bites are training, knowledge and caution. Any dog may bite if it feels threatened, if it's put into an unfamiliar situation, if it's out of control or if it's scared."

The Whitehursts said that before the moment when Cane turned on Tori, he had always been well behaved and was never violent.

"Tori loved animals," Ian said. "She was a magnet for animals. She loved them, and they loved her."

Ian said that perhaps Cane was jealous of the attention Tori was lavishing on her grandfather's dogs.

But there is no way of knowing why this happened.

The Whitehursts do know they will release 500 blue balloons at the service for their daughter. Because blue was her favorite color, they will also place Tori's remains in a blue urn.

But they do not know what to say to their 6-year-old daughter who has not yet comprehended the loss of her little sister.

"She doesn't know," Carin said. "She asked me why I was crying. I didn't have an answer for her."