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Boy Dies After Fever From Pet Rat: Parents To Sue Petco
AP PHOTO/COURTESY PANKEY FAMILY Aidan Pankey is seen with one of his pet rats. Lawyers representing the Pankey family have filed a lawsuit against Petco Animal Supplies Inc., saying Aidan died from rat-bite fever.
San Diego, California – The date was May 27, 2013, and Aiden Pankey was a happy go lucky young boy who loved his pet rat. It was his desire to mate her which prompted his grandmother Sharon Pankey to buy him a male rat from Petco.
‘He’d pop her on his shoulder and that little rat would hang on,’ Sharon Pankey told ABC News. ‘It was like she was saying all right! Let’s go dad.’
‘He said, “you know Grammy when Oreo has babies I’m going to be grandpa and you’re going to be a great-grandma,”‘ Sharon said.
On the morning of June 11, the young man awoke looking ill. He was lethargic to the point of having trouble walking and complained of stomach pain. Later that day, as his abdominal pain increased, he was taken to the hospital and at 1:20AM PST on June 12, he passed away.
‘I put him to bed after a day at the doctor’s office and the next thing I knew it just was too late,’ Sharon said. ‘I went into his room and he couldn’t speak. He was unstable on his feet. I got him down to my room and he collapsed on the floor. I called 911 because it was scaring me that his breathing was shallow and he seemed to be losing his ability to function.’
KGTV The 10-year-old’s family purchased the female rat at this petco store. The boy’s cause of death was later ruled streptobacillus moniliformis infection, commonly known as rat-bite fever.
‘We didn’t know what he died from at first,’ she said. ‘When I took him to doctor he said he had the flu, but you don’t die from flu in less than 48 hours.’
The autopsy revealed that the youngster had died from an infection of the bacteria known as streptobacillus moniliformis IE rat-bite fever. Now, his family has filed a lawsuit against Petco alleging that the rat purchased from them on May 27 was responsible for their son’s fatal infection. It is without question that the Pankey’s family is devastated over the loss of their son.
His father Andrew has lost upwards of 35 pounds since his son’s passing away.
‘He was my family,’ Aidan’s father Andrew Pankey told ABC 15. ‘I’m probably down 30 to 35 pounds since then. I don’t even get hungry. I just go until I pass out.’
The Petco where the male rat was purchased from gets its rats supplied by Chino-based Barney’s Pet Supply. Petco released a short heart-felt statement offering condolences to the family and affirming their commitment to the safety of their customers.
The retailer in a statement expressed its condolences.
“We are deeply saddened by the Pankey family’s tragic loss,” Petco said in a statement. “The health and safety of people and pets is always a top priority, and we take the family’s concerns very seriously.”
Petco insisted in a statement that it uses the most rigorous safety standards in the industry.
But the family is concerned that’s not enough.
‘It’s a means to ensure this doesn’t happen again,’ Gomez said of the lawsuit. ‘Apparently there was some breakdown in procedures. They want tighter controls.’
Rat-bit fever: 10-year-old Aidan Pankey died last June from bacteria his family says was transmitted from a pet rat
Source:
Boy, 10, killed by his pet rat: Parents sue Petco after son died hours after becoming ill from bite by rodent bought at store
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2567951/Child-dies-infected-rat-family-sues-Petco.html
San Diego family suing Petco after boy dies of bacterial infection from pet rat
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/family-suing-petco-boy-dies-pet-rat-bacterial-infection-article-1.1701646