Aidan Pankey was the proud owner of a pet rat he named Oreo. The two were reportedly inseparable and went everywhere together. But what seemed like a friendly relationship between friend and companion, led to the death of a 10-year-old boy.
The Associated Press reported that Pankey died two weeks after purchasing his pet rat. A released report revealed that the boy's cause of death was due to a bite from Oreo the rat. A lawsuit filed in San Diego Monday is claiming that Petco is to blame for Pankey's death.
A San Diego County medical examiner's said Pankey had a streptobacillus moniliformis infection, a rare disease also known as rat-bite fever. Symptoms of the disease include fever, vomiting, headache, muscle pain and sometimes a rash. Still, symptoms usually occur seven to 21 days after exposure to an infected rat.
The AP reported that Pankey's grandmother bought him the rodent, which turned out to be a carrier of the rat-bite fever. On June 11, Pankey reportedly woke up in unbearable pain and he spiked a fever. He had stomach pains and was reportedly unable to walk. Pankey died the next day at 1:09 a.m. in Rady Children's Hospital.
"The rat that killed Aidan appeared safe, but was in fact defective and dangerous and defendants failed to adequately warn of such dangers," the lawsuit stated.
The boy's parents, Andrew Pankey and Vanessa Sauer, are suing for emotional and economic hardship. The lawsuit against Petco cites the company's negligence when it came to making sure the rat was not infected. The family hopes that the lawsuit will prevent other people from being bitten by infected rats.
"Clearly there were not sufficient safety procedures in place at Petco when they sold this rat," the family's attorney, Hamilton Arendsen of Gomez Trial Attorneys, said. "It's a means to ensure this doesn't happen again. Apparently there was some breakdown in procedures. They want tighter controls."
Petco released a statment, expressing condolences to the Pankey family.
"At Petco, we follow what we believe are the industry's strongest standards for companion animal health and welfare, and we require our vendors to meet the same standards for animal care and well-being. We require our live animal suppliers to meet or exceed USDA requirements for the care and treatment of animals, as well as follow strict requirements for housing, feeding, breeding, shipping and caring for sick or injured animals. We leave specific testing protocols to be determined by our vendors unless we identify a reason for concern."
"We're saddened by the Pankey family's tragic loss and are very interested in speaking directly with the family to better understand their claims."
