11-5-2007
Two Arizona parents were mourning the death of their young daughter, after she was mauled to death by the family pet. Four-year-old Tori Whitehurst was playing alone in her backyard when she was attacked by the family’s 80 pound American Bulldog. Police responded to the scene, and had to shoot the animal five times before being able to rescue the child. Sadly, it was too late, and little Tori died from her injuries.

As is almost always the case in dog mauling, the attack
caught everyone by surprise, especially her parents. They
said that the dog had never shown any aggression before,
and Tori and the animal played together all the time. A prior
owner called the dog a “snugglebug” and said “He’s the
sweetest dog ever.” The family had adopted the 2-year-old
Bulldog mix in April from the Humane Society.

Tori’s parents said they think the reason the dog attacked her  was because he was jealous. A few months ago they had added more dogs to the family, and so the little girls affection was divided between the pets. They speculate that this might have bred violence in the dog, leading it to attack the preschooler.

This is another sad tragedy, that might have been possible to avoid.  It is extremely important parents never leave a young child alone with any dog, even if it’s a familiar pet. Every mauling story always starts out the same way: “He had never done anything like this before…” Also, read the book ‘What Doggy’s Do’ with your children. It goes over ‘play nice’ rules for dogs,’ and teaches kids how to cover up to protect themselves and hopefully survive such an attack. You’ll find a link to it below.