Sprog dies from Petco rat bite

https://www.yahoo.com/news/family-files-20m-against-petco-153021061.html

The parents bought him what appears to be a feeder rat for reptiles for a pet and the rat bit the kid. Kid dies from infection and they now are going for $20M from Petco. Even feeder fish from these stores are not to be kept in aquariums as they tend toward disease.

Umm... perhaps a gold fish would have been a better choice.

I do put some blame on the store as these should not be sold as pets and should not have been out or clearly marked that they were 'feeder rats' for reptile owners only. Whatever.

Gotta blame the parunts for being stupid enough to buy the thing too.

One of those unfortunate situations all the way around. But I bet the moo and duh will win.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4430078/Jury-sides-Petco-death-boy-rat-bite-fever.html

I guess they lost the lawsuit

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cfdavep
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4430078/Jury-sides-Petco-death-boy-rat-bite-fever.html

I guess they lost the lawsuit

GOOD!

From the article:-

"The agency recommended that people who handle rats or clean their cages wear protective gloves, wash their hands regularly and avoid touching their mouths with their hands after being in contact with rodents"

You know how gross kids are, guaranteed that kid didn't wash it's hands or follow any hygienic practices - if they got this kid a reptile he'd have ended up with Salmonella, at which point they'd be suing because "How was I supposed to know that you aren't supposed to kiss the tortoise goodnight? There should be more awareness!" instead of reading the care pamphlet or doing any research whatsoever.

I never even knew this was a thing. My brother had 2 rats when he was in his teens. I remember that he bought them without asking for our parents' permission first and hid the box (I guess) under his coat until he got to his room. I don't know how he thought he'd ever get away with it. We had other rodents before, so he did have a cage, feeder, water bottle, toys and so forth, but still. Neither my parents or I really went into his room but I think my mother discovered the rats on the first day. We did have them for a while and I played with them too, but my mother eventually asked my brother to rehome them with a friend of his who also had pet rats. I think it was because they chewed through everything when we let them out to play. I seem to remember at least one set of curtains and several books being chewed up. Haha. But anyway, I never knew rat bites could be deadly!

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But anyway, I never knew rat bites could be deadly!

A bite from any animal - domestic or wild - can be dangerous. I think really only if it breaks the skin. Even if bacteria from the mouth of a healthy, friendly house cat enters your bloodstream via a bite, that can get you really seriously sick if you don't take care of the wound ASAP. Plus, what with all the unvaccinated, premature brats whose parents don't expose them to germs and bathe them in hand sanitizer constantly these days, it's probably much easier and much quicker for a kid to get fatally sick from an animal bite.

It's not the store's fault the kid got himself bitten. They told the idiots that the rat might have an infection that could be spread to a human through a bite. I've never heard of the particular strain of bacteria the rat had, but if I had to guess, it's probably something that doesn't hurt the rat or wouldn't hurt the snake it would normally have been fed to, but it would sicken a human if contracted. Kinda like cat scratch fever, which, from what I remember, is what happens when a cat breaks the skin and bacteria from its waste enters the bloodstream. Maybe feeder rats aren't as closely monitored for illness as rats meant to be kept as pets because feeder rats aren't meant to be kept as pets. I'm gonna assume that a feeder rat was cheaper than a pet rat and that's why the parents got the kid that one instead.

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They added that Petco does warn of potential dangers that come when buying a rat, including rat-bite fever, but it is handed over in a form that comes with general instructions about how to care for the pet, reported Inside Edition.

Oh, but breeders are FAR too bizzy to read safety warnings on anything! It's much easier for them to not bother with such trivial nonsense, suffer the consequences and then claim the supplier of the offending item/thing didn't give adequate warning about what could happen. And of course there's no word on why the rat bit the kid. I would never ever recommend anybody buy their brats a pet that is a prey animal because they tend to be much more skittish and, thus, more likely to bite and scratch. This isn't a sign of a defective animal - it's their nature. Any type of rodent will be inclined to nip, and since kids aren't known for handling animals gently, the rat probably just did what rats do when they feel threatened.

In typical breeder fashion, they're on a crusade to prevent other kids from dying in the same dumbass way instead of owning up to the fact that they should have never allowed their kid to have a pet rat and if they had just gotten a dog or something more hardy (or better yet, no pet at all), their kid would still be alive. But NOPE, always gotta blame somebody else so they can be victims forever. They were warned by the store about the risks of rat ownership and they chose to not heed that warning. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. It's 100 percent the fault of the parents the brat died from a totally preventable illness.