California State Jury Finds In Favor Of Pet Store In Family's Wrongful Death Action Filed After Boy Died After Being Infected With Rat Bite Fever
On May 27, 2013, Aidan Pankey, then 10 years old, visited a pet store with his grandmother and adopted a pet rat. The grandmother signed a waiver releasing Petco from liability for any injury or damage resulting from the rat's adoption. The store was owned and/or operated by Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. and the rat was bred and/or distributed by Barney's Pets, Inc. Unknown to Aidan and his grandmother, the rat that they took home had rat bite fever (RBF), an infectious disease which can be fatal to humans. Late on June 11, 2013, Aidan awoke with a fever and his family took him to the hospital. Aidan died there in the early morning hours of June 12, 2013.
On Feb. 24, 2014, Andrew Pankey and Vanessa Sauer, Individually and as Administrators of the Estate of Aidan Pankey, filed a complaint in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. On April 25, 2014, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint against Petco and Barney's, alleging wrongful death resulting from defendants' negligence.
On March 27, 2017, the case proceeded to a jury trial, with Judge Eddie C. Sturgeon presiding. On April 20, 2017, the jury returned a verdict in favor of defendants. The defense trial brief is attached below.
An article posted to www.cbs8.com by Gene Kang the same day as the verdict noted that defense counsel had told the jury that Petco was a leader in developing a test to see if a rat carried RBF and that there was no way to determine what percentage of rats had the disease. The article also indicated that jurors said that the liability form that the grandmother signed at the pet store had a big impact on their decision.
Plaintiffs were represented by Gomez Trial Attorneys in San Diego, CA. Petco was represented by Kimberly Oberrecht of Horton, Oberrecht, Kirkpatrick & Martha, APC in San Diego, CA. Barney's Pets was represented by Andy Mendoza and Christopher Faenza of Yoka and Smith, LLP in Los Angeles, CA.
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