Woman Angered After Daughter Was Bitten Inside NJ Pet Store

March 15, 2011 8:13 AM

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MOUNT LAUREL, NJ (CBS) – It was an agonizing situation for a local mother.

Lisa Bethune says her six-year-old daughter, Gracie, was forced to get rabies shots after she was bitten by a dog inside a PetSmart.

“If they were forthright with the information from the beginning, it would have prevented her from having to get the rabies shots,” Bethune said.

Bethune is referring to the Petsmart store in Mount Laurel’s Centerton Square Shopping Center. That’s where Gracie told her mother she was bitten by a dog.

Gracie explained, “There was a lady, I asked if I could pet the dog and she said ok and then it growled at me and then it bit me.”

“I look up and she’s running to me and she was hysterical,” Bethune added.

Bethune maintains it happened the minute she looked away from Gracie and just as quickly, she says the dog and its owner were gone. Bethune says the store manager provided her with a first-aid kit along with an explanation.

“If the dog is not in there for training or grooming, then they’re not liable,” Bethune said.

Gracie added, “It hurt worse.”

Gracie is talking about the rabies shots. She has since recovered, but her mother is still angry. She’s angry because she says the store manager initially refused to help her find the dog owner even when police were called.

Bethune said, “I told him, when police come here we can just look at the surveillance video. He tells me there isn’t. Well, I said, then how can we find out who this person is? And he says ‘well, I don’t know.’”

Bethune says she contacted the PetSmart corporate office and even the property owner for answers to no avail. But days after Gracie had gotten the rabies shots, Bethune says PetSmart gave up the dog owner’s information. Bethune believes that happened because she returned to the store with a camera and found no signs indicating how shoppers are protected.

“So by the time I got home, not even 10 minutes from PetSmart, the store manager called asking me if I was in the store. I said yes, I was taking pictures of the front of the store to see where this disclosure was posted and he goes, well we found the dog owner and so he subsequently gave me the information. I gave it to the police officer and I have the information to my pediatrician and she said, ok, the dog was vaccinated that day,” Bethune said.

In response, PetSmart released the following statement:

“We continue to investigate the incident and are cooperating with the pet parent as well as the police who are conducting their own investigation. The investigation began immediately after store management provided first aid to the child’s thumb. Unfortunately, there were no witnesses to the incident making it difficult to identify the dog. However, information that may assist the police in identifying the dog has been provided to the police.”

Bethune says she is now exploring her legal options.

Reported By Elizabeth Hur, CBS Philly

Woman Angered After Daughter Was Bitten Inside NJ Pet Store

amy

So who would she blame or sue if the child was taken in that split second instead of this unfortunate occurrence?

The vets in petsmarts are totally separate corporation. The manager probably had to go through 2 sets of corporate channels to get information to pass along.

B

If that was the case then why wouldn’t the manager say that? Why would he say he doesn’t have surveillance in the store? In this day and age, no theft prevention, come on? They should have been upfront instead of lying about it. Irregardless of who (parent, dog owner or child) was wrong, it happened in Pet Smart. Pet Smart was more concerned about liability instead of the child and getting the dog’s records, which they had the whole time. Guess they thought they could brush it under a rug. Do you people honestly think this is the only time someone has been bit in a pet store? This is the first time, we’ve heard about it. Funny, how you same people can walk past an injured person on the street, but when it comes to a dog, it’s always the humans fault.

Sunnyin08010

I doubt they felt they could sweep it under the rug. Owner and dog had left by the time the mother attempted to find them. Again if her child was “right next to her” as she claims she would have seen the owner and dog but she did not because her daughter was not within her view. NO ONE could identify who or what happened Still can not even guarantee they got the right dog/owner. Stores are not required to tell you what form of security system they have, it would just aid and abet in thievery. They cared about the child, they treated her w/ first aid. Obviously the wound was not that bad or an ambulance would have been called. And you can stop speculating that we would walk past an injured person on the street; you are grasping at argumentative straws now.
S

Ok, Sunny08010 I don’t think Pet Smart would have given the police the wrong dog/dog owner’s personal information, do you? No one asked what type of security system that was being utilized in the store, only that the system in place be used to possibly assist in identifying the missing dog owner. Pet Smart told the police and parent that there weren’t any security in place. It is a known fact that some people value a dogs life over a human. Sad but true. Look how many hit and run injuries and deaths remain unsolved because no one wants to speak up but if it’s a animal involved, you can’t answer the phone quick enough.
Still Sunny

No I do not suspect they gave the police the wrong info I just said if no one saw it how can we be sure it was the right person whose information they gave out and I so can not believe there is no security system. I was just in my PetSmart at lunch and if you have a keen enough eye you can spot the security protection. Anyhoo I am not looking to argue with you. We are all entitled to our opinions and can not argue one another’s opinions because they all differ !

And yes I have met many humans over whom I would definitely choose an animal before them. At this point I keep checking back just to see if the dogs owner has posted anything. Enjoy our afternoon
baye72

I have searched the article and I cannot see ANYWHERE where it states that their is NO surveillance in the store. In fact that only mention as to what the Manager ACTUALLY said was a statement from the Mother where she claims they refused to help her. No big box retail store is going to admit or deny where their security cameras are located. I mean come on, if you owned a retail store, wold you really announce to customers “Oh, we don’t have cameras on that aisle”? Despite what everyone seems to believe, cameras in a store are NOT for catching theft, they are to DETER theft. The only way for it to work is for people to not KNOW where the cameras are located. And sometimes that includes the employees themselves (employee theft is the largest). If they truly were trying to brush it under the rug, why would they open an investigation?

I don’t necessarily agree with number of posters who are blaming the mother for not having an eye on her child EVERY SECOND in a store. I’m a parent, and despite what my kids think, I do not have eyes in the back of my head, but I do always have a “sense” (for lack of a better word) of what and who happens to be around me. I guess that is where mothers intuition comes from.

My biggest issue with this article is the actions of the mother AFTER the alleged (yes, alleged, the pet owner identified denies the incident) biting. To start, she had unrealistic expectations of what information could be produced, judging from her statements to the reporter, was combative with the store and then when the police told her their was nothing to be done criminally, but she could look into it civilly (BTW, standard response from police officers when they can’t do anything on their end) she went to the store to “take pictures” and at the end of article it states that she is “exploring her legal options”. Um, call me crazy, but that is a person setting up a lawsuit. And the truly sad part about this whole thing is, she will file her lawsuit and PetSmart will settle (because it is ALWAYS cheaper to settle than fight), but the cost for these ridiculous lawsuits gets past on to the consumer. And THAT is what I blame this mother for!

Sunnyin08010

My guess is she would have tried to blame everyone but herself.
S

you went from dog bite to child abduction? You Amy are really reaching. Pet Smart would still say they didn’t have surveillance cameras to assist the police and the parent? But, I guess you would say it’s the parents fault and not the child molester? It’s people like you that thought dog records were protected by law. Good Grief!

Sunnyin08010

Um S, you can not just call up my vet and ask for copies of my pets records. The Vet must first contact me before releasing the information and even before even giving a referral for me. Maybe not a law but at least some Veterinarians protect our personal information which is also in those records.

michael

Children need to be taught to NEVER attempt to pet a strange dog, even if it is on a leash, and even if the owner says it’s okay, unless the child asks the parent first. If the mother had been doing her job as a parent, this incident could have been avoided. I say the parent is lawsuit happy.
nancy

and the only “disclosure” PetSmart should have to display is “Children should be supervised by their parents.”
nancy

NOT the dog’s fault… maybe the kid needed to be on a leash… it’s common sense NOT to pet strange dogs…..bet the kid won’t do that again!

michael

Well said!
Teresa

It is the dog owner’s fault. In every state in the country, laws in place make the dog OWNER liable for a dog bite, with extremely rare exceptions. The dog owners who end up in court don’t get this. The facts are: You must have control of your dog in a public place at all times. No excuses. The dog owner is liable. She allowed a strange child too close to the dog. It is not the child’s fault. Just as people demand that parents control their young children, dog owners BY LAW are required to control their dogs.

brittany

if no one witnessed the dog bite but the little girl…and the owner left before they called the cops…HOW THE HECK WAS THE STORE MANAGER SUPOSED TO GET THE OWNER’S INFORMATION?>
Linda

If the mom only turned away for a second then why didn’t SHE get the dog owner’s information? Why was it the store’s responsibility? She should have tried to get the info for herself and if the person wouldn’t give it up then she should have called the cops. I don’t see how any of this is the store manager’s fault. It sounds to me like she didn’t look away for “just a second” like she said! I would be so embarrassed if I were her. She should be ashamed of herself, what a terrible mom.
s

the only one at fault was the neglectful mother! petsmart has clear signs that state all pets must be leashed and vaccinated. there were no witnesses so what is the truthful story? can you say lawsuit happy! the petsmart in nj had to follow their corporate policy until they got permission to release the name of the dogs owner. it’s the law!

C

So what are your hours at Pet Smart? You obviously work there. You are right that’s what the sign says but there is no one at the front door checking for vaccinations. But I guess that the parent’s fault too. The dog owner has no responsibility after her dog has bitten someone and she leaves the store with the dog. What is the title of that “law”, S? I’d like to look it up. It’s the law to report all dog bites but Pet Smart only called the police after the parent requested it.

Sunnyin08010

Seriously now people if this bite was soooo bad then the child would have gone by ambulance to the hospital. For all we know the “alleged” dog nipped and pinched her or just broke the skin. My neighbors dog bit me, at no fault of my own except me standing next to it and there was no need to call the police and report the bite. All I had to do was ask to see the dogs shot records, which they showed me and moved along with my day. Animals bite. Some people do too. If I worked at PetSmart, I would not have called the police unless the customer requested it also.

For all we know this “alleged” bite could have happened and the kid ran away without the dog’s owner knowing it did anything wrong. Many times I see people in the store looking at something while their dog is standing next to them and people always approach the dog to try and pet it. Kinda like you all say you can’t keep your eye on your kids all the time, well neither can a dog owner when she/he “is bending down for a second to look for a price.”
s

no i do not i shop there

Elizabeth Hur

Hello, after reading all of your comments, I feel that is is my responsibility (as the reporter who interviewed the mother) to try to answer some of the questions raised here, chief among them, “Why was the child left unaccompanied?”

As stated in the article, Mrs. Bethune said it happened the minute she looked away from Gracie. Her complete response was:

“I was in the dog bits isle and Gracie was within my eyesight, standing a couple of feet away from me. One of the shelves was bent up so I bent down to try to get the price. Then I look up and she’s running to me and she was hysterical.”

She says that happened on Saturday 3/5. She says she asked the store manager for help trying to locate the dog owner but got no help. So after she left the store, she says she took Gracie to the local ER and a doc there told her, “Because it was an unknown dog at this point, the rabies shots have to be administered. If you choose not to, Gracie could die.”

Gracie was scheduled to get the shots on Tuesday 3/8, to avoid it, Mrs. Bethune told me she tried the store again, then corporate and the building owner, when she couldn’t get any answers on dog owner or vaccination records, she took Gracie to the hospital to get the shots: 2 on her buttocks and 1 in her arm.

So on Thursday 3/10, Mrs. Bethune said that she went back to the store and started taking pictures to see what signs let shoppers know how similar situations are handled. She said she only found one sign that read: “Leashed and vaccinated animals are welcome.”

When she got home from that trip, she says she then got a call from the store manager who first wanted to know if she was at the store with a camera. Mrs. Bethune says when she said, yes, the store manager gave her the dog owner’s info.

She says she immediately passed the info onto police and her doc. She later found out the dog was brought to the animal hospital inside the store (that Saturday 3/5/11) to get vaccinated. The records show that dog got its last shots 3/4/10.

The mother’s belief/point of the story (as stated in the article):

“If they were forthright with the information from the beginning it would have prevented her from having to get the rabies shots.”

So that’s her side of the story. To get PetSmart’s side, I emailed them the following questions:

1) What is your comment in response to this specific incident?
2) Why couldn’t the manager cooperate from the beginning?
3) Do you have surveillance video inside stores?
4) What is your store policy involving animals in the store?

I first got a phone call, the company spokesman told me because of security reasons, he cannot disclose what security system is in place at any of their stores. When I asked about the store policy and the specifics of the incident, I was told a statement would be emailed to me and it was. That’s the statement you see in the article.

In closing, so why wasn’t ALL of this information included in the initial report? I’d like to use the excuse that I only had a minute to tell the story. But that’s unacceptable because this is what I do everyday: talk to people.. however long the interviews may be.. everyday, I’m given the task to tell their story in a minute as objectively and as accurately as I can.

Clearly, I’ve failed with this assignment. I’ve left so many of you asking so many questions, I hope to take this opportunity to clear up some of your confusions. I expect and welcome any more questions you may have, so please feel free to contact me via this forum or my email: hur@cbs3.com

If you took the time to read all of this, THANK YOU! And I sincerely look forward to hearing from you any time!

Elizabeth

p.s. One more thing: Police contacted the dog owner. Mrs. Bethune found out from police, the dog owner denies any involvement. Mrs. Bethune also found out, in NJ, no law was broken by the dog owner leaving the store! Mrs. Bethune was told by police: she has no CRIMINAL case here but a possible CIVIL case.

Elizabeth Hur

Correction: Mrs. Bethune received the dog owner’s information from PetSmart Corporate.

s

can you say lawsuit happy!!!!!! the mom was irresponsible and perhaps is looking for a way to make some extra income in these hard times by attemping to sue a very good honest store chain!

baye72

Ms. Hur,

Thank you for the update and a bit of clarification on the story. However, I still am baffled by one sticking point. If the only witnesses to the alleged event were the child, the dog, and the dogs owner, how exactly did Mrs. Bethune expect the Manager of the store to identify the dog and owner? By your own report, information was scarce. To expect more on a moments notice, seems a bit excessive on Mrs. Bethune’s part. PetSmart stated that they started an investigation immediately following the incident, what more was expected?

I have to say, as a mother of a 6 year old AND a dog owner who has spent my fair share of time in PetSmarts WITH my daughter, I do find that Mrs. Bethune holds a share of responsibility in this situation. My daughter KNOWS that she is never to approach a dog, even on a leash with an owner) without MY express permission. I protect my child by greeting all dogs first so that I can determine if I feel they are safe. That is MY responsibility as a parent. Is it really surprising that so many on here feel that Mrs. Bethune is making hay for the sake of a lawsuit? Where is her personal responsibility? There is none, it is simply everybody else’s fault. Sadly I feel that has become the symbol of America these days and it is only made worse by giving people like this media attention. Is there really nothing better to write about?

D

The fact of the matter is a child was bit, the dog owner fled the scene (disregarding an injured child) with the dog. PetSmart’s false claim of no cameras to assist in identifying the owner so the shot records could be obtained. You people look past facts and zoom in on speculation and assumptions. Most people including myself didn’t know that if an incident happens in this store that they take a hands off approach until the cameras show up, that is. I like to be an informed consumer and the fact is there is no disclosure statement at the front door. There is no one screening these animals for shot records and if they are leashed. You people must have been paid by Petsmart to write this nonsense. It looks like the woman inquired about the law when things like this happen. I don’t recall reading that she was suing anyone. The dog owner should have remained in the store with her dog, not flee the scene.

Anna

“I was in the dog bits isle and Gracie was within my eyesight, standing a couple of feet away from me. One of the shelves was bent up so I bent down to try to get the price. Then I look up and she’s running to me and she was hysterical.”
so you mean to tell me that she bent down to check the price of an item, her daughter wander off, found a dog, asked the owner to pet the dog, the dog growled at her & then proceeded to bite her. That seems like a lot to happen in an “instant” that the mom was checking the price. The incident wasn’t witnessed by anyone, I doubt it even happened !! I find it rare that a little girl getting bit & crying “hysterically” was not seen by the many shoppers in a PetSmart on a Saturday.. Sounds like a bogus story if you ask me. Mom seems attention happy & lawsuit happy. It’s a shame that things like this get coverage, why not cover how this parent, along with many other’s fail to keep a watchful eye on their children.
Teresa

Dog bites are difficult to prove if no one witnesses them. But the base rule (and LAW) in dog bites cases is that an owner is 100% responsible for “controlling” his/her dog in public. There is almost no wiggle room on this. Even if the dog owner did not see the dog bite the child, what if a security camera caught the bite on film? The owner would be liable for the dog’s behavior. I have posted this a few times here but no one is really acknowledging that this is the base of the issue — in every state and in all counties in each state, laws on dog bites are nearly identical. DOG OWNERS are responsible for what their dogs do in public. Almost no wiggle room on this. If a dog bites someone and the owner does not see it occur, the owner is still liable. Proving that a specific dog did the biting is another matter. These cases get messy because of all the emotions involved, but the law is the law.

Mel K

How did this story result in so many comments? There are tsunamis, earthquakes, and bus accidents in the news and so far there are 26 comments about this story (probably the most comments I’ve ever seen for one story). You people who are making nasty comments about the mother or child are ignorant. The mother is being called a “low life” and irresponsible, etc. If the mother is irresponsible for not watching her child, then the dog owner is equally irresponsible for not watching her dog (assuming she didn’t know that dog bit the girl, as others have suggested). The owner left the store and the manager wasn’t helpful in tracking her down promptly. Given those two facts, I’d be angry with the store manager and the dog owner as well. Whatever else I or anyone else thinks is based on speculation. I’m just sticking up for the mom and the girl because given the facts in this story, they have every right to be angry. Even if the girl poked the dog in the eye and provoked it to the point where it bit her, the dog owner should have stayed to tell her side of the story.
Kelly

Why is everyone so mad at the Mom? And who said the little girl was wandering around the store unaccompanied? I been in this store with my childern right next to me and still within reach of someone else’s dog. I’ve also been in this store with my dog, and certainly would not have fled the store if he actually bit someone. If this pet owner had left the scene of an accident, she would have been hunted down and arrested. And who said the Mother was going to sue anyone? I think all she wanted was for the store to be a little more helpful in tracking down the owner, so she could have confirmed one way or another whether or not her little girl needed rabies shots or not.

Sunnyin08010

Kelly read the story … “I look up and she’s running to me and she was hysterical,” Bethune added. She was not standing right next to her. She was obviously far enough away that she went “running” to her mother. Who is to say the owner “ran away” maybe she was on her way out the door after picking her dog up from the groomer or vet clinic?? NO ONE ELSE SAW WHAT HAPPENED ! No one should assume anything until the owner speaks up, again I say we are all going by a 6 year old child’s version of the story. Don’t know about the kids in your life but I know some 6 year old children that have very forgetful +/or an imaginative minds. Until the owner comes forth and says Yes I told her she could pet my dog and my dog bit her, I am not siding with the 6 year old.

S

AGREED!!!!!!!!!!! MAYBE IT’S THE MOTHERS STORY AS TOLD TO THE 6 YEAR OLD SO THEY COULD GET A LAW SUIT GOING…….

renee

NO ONE WITNESSED THE EVENT SO HOW THE HELL WERE THEY SUPPOSED TO RELEASE INFORMATION? read the article & see it for what it is, the woman wasn’t watching her child, she wants to blame someone cause unfortunately her daughter got bit & she doesn’t want to pay for the rabies.

S

YOU ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOO RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

renee

first off since when did the responsibility/burden fall on the store for the parent’s failure to watch her child? would you let your child roam around without your supervision at the zoo? absolutely not !! petsmart is a store that has animals there, supervision is necessary for younger children. & if the mother is so called “angry with the store for not releasing the pet owner’s information” then that’s once again, her fault. as it states in the article no one witnessed the incident so is the manager supposed to just find a random person & accuse them? had the the mother watched her child like she’s supposed to, she could’ve witnessed the incident. sadly that wasn’t the case – so if anything she should be mad at herself !! i wonder exactly where in the store the mother was when the bite took place. the only person i feel bad for is the child, that her mom is making a fool out of herself for blaming someone else because she didn’t have her 6 year old in her sight. smh just another person looking for some attention & money.

Mel K

Most of the people commenting are missing the point. Read the article again and stay with the facts presented. The girl had to get a rabies shot because no one knew if the dog was properly vaccinated. Why? Because the store manager didn’t initially help identify the dog owner. Why not? Was the manager a friend of the dog owner and didn’t want her to get in trouble? If it was an accident, then what’s the big deal? If you’re a pet owner, you have to take the risk that your dog could bite someone for whatever reason, provoked or unprovoked. If that happens, then you need to take responsibility for it. It’s like driving a car. Whether we hit someone or someone hits us, we should be responsible to stay at the scene of the accident. Driving, like pet ownership, is a risk that comes with responsibilities. Don’t own a dog if you’re going to leave the scene of an incident when your dog bites someone.

Sunnyin08010

So let her sue the employee and not the dog’s owner. WTH? Either way a lawsuit for this is unnecessary. My neighbors cat scratched me, I guess I should sue her too because the cat hasn’t had her yearly shots yet . . . bottom line, she should have been watching her 6 year old.
S

AND DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SUE PETSMART! IT WAS NOT THEIR FAULT.. THIS FAMILY IS AFTER MONEY….THATS ALL

Amy O.

I’m a big fan of people watching after their own children.

sunnyin08010

Hmmm maybe the owner looked away for a second and the child poked it’s eye or pulled it’s ear or something to agitate the dog but hey since the dog can’s speak we are relying on the story being told by a child.. And until the dog’s owner comes forward to speak I think everyone should stop trying to blame the owner +/or the dog. Again, if you can’t keep an eye on your children, leave them home.
Sunnyin08010

How old was this girl and why did her mother allow her to wander away from her in the store. It is a PET STORE not a kid store. In my opinion just someone looking to make a buck. The Pet Owner was wrong for leaving the scene but that does not mean she/he deserves to be sued. Dogs bite. Get over it. She’ll live and maybe she will learn to stay away from strange dogs since her mother did not teach her that. And for Brittany you can stop defending your mother, she is an adult let her speak for herself.
NowYouKnow

Most of us dog owners would be responsible if our dogs bit someone. This particular dog owner was not and left the store with the dog leaving a child injured. I never knew there was a “unspoken” and “unwritten/ not posted” policy that says enter at your own risk. The child had a conversation with the dog owner asking to pet the dog when the dog growled and bit the child with the mother a few feet away. As consumers shouldn’t don’t we have the right to know before something like this happens what the policies are? You’re missing the point people. We all love our dogs but just like everything else, there’s always ONE who messes it up for others. It’s not about money, but doing the right thing.
Debbie

Lady watch your kid! Petsmart is for dogs and owners keep them on leashes, maybe you try one for your child since you can’t seem to watch her the normal way. Legal options, of course, another lowlife looking for easy money at another’s expense. People who sue for no reason get bad karma so remember that as you explore options, it is not good luck.

Standingby

Pet Smart posts a welcome sign but there is no one at the door doing the screening as to dogs coming in leashed and vaccinated. When’s the last time someone asked for the dog’s shot records when you entered the store? they don’t. I’ve seen some lap dogs without leashes in their owners arms. Remember, you probably only got part of the story.
S

I COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER. I MUST WONDER HOW MANY OTHER TIMES THIS FAMILY HAS STIRRED UP TROUBLE

jobfinder

Wooooof ~ wooooof lick, lick…………..
Mel K

What’s everyone bashing on the victim’s mother for? From reading this article, it seems like the main issue is that the store manager didn’t cooperate with the victim or police. “She’s angry because she says the store manager initially refused to help her find the dog owner even when police were called.” I’m not a pet expert, but if you get bitten by a dog, wouldn’t getting a rabies shot be normal, especially if you don’t know if the dog was rabid? In this case, the pet owner couldn’t be contacted to inquire about the dog’s condition.

Brittany

thank you!!! atleast someone on here has a BRAIN, and understand where my mom is coming from!

kay

They are not bashing on her, they are simply stating that she was at fault as well but wants to blame the whole thing on the manager. Obviously, themanager did not see it either so how can you blame them for the same thing that the mother didn’t see? It’s a shame the kid got bit but it’s just one of those things. If you take a child into a pet store and let them pet the pets in the store, then you are taking a risk that the child could be bit. Thousands are dead from an earthquake and the kid is fine so tell the mother to be happy she is alive and fine and move on. You can’t blame everyone else for the very same thing you did not do – see who did it. Brittany, you and mom need to see the full picture.

IMPORTER1

looks like someone never taught not to go near strange people or dogs .maybe she this women should sue herself for being that stupid .that she never taught her daughter the rules .I used to work ata kennel and was told on day one how to act around dogs and how to NOT go anywere near a dog without your fist being closed
Nancy S.

Get over it lady and watch your kid or leave her with a babysitter. What a low life!

michael

Amen!

Pam

Hey, years ago a bird bit my husbands ear at PetSmart – we got over it. we didn’t sue, we just got smarter on handling a bird. Rabies shots? really? that’s a little extreme. LIghten up Francis.

Hawkshug

Exactly! Whatever happened to “accident”, “I’m sorry”, “It wasn’t intentional”, “please forgive me”, “I apologize”!
Brittany

Obviously you don’t know how serious dog bites are! Since petsmart refused to give my mom the dog & it’s owners information, we didn’t know whether or not the dog had it’s shots or not… which put my baby sister in a possible fatal situation. So it definitely wasn’t extreme to get the rabies shots, it was NECESSARY! you’d do the same for your child.. oh, and my mom’s name isn’t francis.. thank you very much!

Hawkshug

And of course responsible pet owners will be punished and another place will ban dogs from entering an establishment.

Sunnyin08010

You are right, just one more senseless human starting something that will lead to us no longer being able to take our pets to the PET STORE. This particular store also has a grooming and medical section. Even as a HUGE animal lover I am hesitant to pet any dog in there, tail wagging or not. Who knows maybe the dog had just had a shot (article says it was vaccinated that day) and the child touched the sore spot. So many things could have happened and like I said earlier at this point we are relying on the story as told by a child.

Kelly Harris Aulenbach

Like soooo many parents today,she wasn’t keeping an eye on where her 6 year old daughter was. I used to get ridiculed by friends and family for always having my eyes on my daughter and she is happy and well adjusted. She should have had a tighter leash on her child.
Thomas

Bethune couldn’t keep tabs on her daughter nor the pet owner.

aka double-fail

Hopefully the ridicule she receives is punishment enough for considering “legal options.”

S

AMEN TO THAT!

baye72

Oh please! Imagine that, another idiot looking to sue everyone. The only person liable in this situation is the pet OWNER, not the store. This woman’s actions clearly show that she was more interested in sueing the store than anything else. Are we now going to require every store to put up a “disclosure” at their entrance that they are not responsible for other shoppers in the store? To me that is basic common sense and if we in this country can’t even muster up basic common sense, then I guess we are in a much sadder situation than I ever imagined.