After receiving the lab results from the federal Centers for Disease Control which tested the rat to confirm it was infected, the family’s attorney John Gomez filed the lawsuit Monday in San Diego County, against the pet supplier. The San Diego County medical examiner’s office communicated that the cause of death was a streptobacillus moniliformis infection. People can contract rat-bite fever from bites or scratches from infected rodents or even just by handling an animal with the disease, without a bite or scratch. Penicillin and other antibiotics are highly effective and the illness is rarely fatal when it’s correctly diagnosed. In this case, unfortunately, the evolution was fatal. Attorney Gomez appreciated that pursuing Petco in justice “it’s to ensure this doesn’t happen again.” The family says that Petco should have known about the rodent’s health. On the other part, Petco Animal Supplies Inc. expressed the compassion for Pankey family’s tragic loss and declared that is itself “in the process of investigating these claims and will respond appropriately.”
