Or…you know…maybe the customers who patronize the place know that urine or excrement might be a possibility, and could decide whether to shop their or not…sort of like taking your dog to the dog park.
I know you couldn’t tell from my post, beagledave, but I was being facetious.
Still…
I think this is a big assumption. Even though I’m not shocked when I see dogs walking around in my local Petco, I’m not exactly expecting to see dog shit in the aisles. Nor urine puddles. I dunno…I suppose it’s because I assume dogs that are brought indoors are house-broken.
I wouldn’t sue if I slipped on a pile of dog doo (maybe dog vomit, but not dog doo), but I don’t think someone is necessarily stupid for expecting sanitary conditions when they walk into a pet store.
Where else can you take your dog for a crap and have someone take care of the poop and scoop duty for you?
I’ve actually never seen either urine or excrement in the Petsmart that we go to.
I guess either the people who bring them in have enough sense to housetrain the dogs…or the store employees clean up if there is a mess.
That being said…if I saw either on the floor, a floor where dogs walk on, I wouldn’t be shocked…and I wouldn’t sue the store because I fell down.
I’ve seen spilt liquids in grocery stores MANY times…(I suppose from shoppers or their kids knocking over something). Sometimes, the store has it cleaned up or roped off…sometimes not (yet).
Is the store negligent for the spilled liquid? Or does it come with the territory?
AFAIK, Jenkins didn’t prove that the employees of the Petsmart were irresponsible and let the poop stay on the floor forever.
I shop at PetsMart frequently. I rarely see poop on the floor. I never take my pack with me because I usually stop on the way home from work. I enjoy seeing people shop with their dogs. I think it is a good idea to allow folks to bring their dogs with them. Maybe the store should post a notice that asks dog owners to clean up the poop or at a minimum, let one of the employees know about the accident. I notice lots of the people that bring their pets seem to be new pet owners. Maybe they have puppies that have not yet learned when and where they should or should not poop and pee.
What I want to know is, what kind of pet owner sees their dog shit on someone else’s floor, and then walks away and leaves it there?
Oh, yes. I mean, ever since these Petsmart stores have gasp been letting people bring their pets inside with them, the economy has just started floundering. And don’t get me started about traffic and urban sprawl. Those aren’t soccer moms in those SUV’s–those are pet owners headed to their local Petsmart. And I could spend days talking about how shopping with your pet can lead to increased racial tensions within the community.
Shameful, I tell you. No animal deserves to be treated like that.
:rolleyes:
The above was pure sarcasm. I just get a tad pissed off when someone tries to tell me my dog was nothing more than a mere “animal.”
If people have a problem with a store that allows people to bring in animals and the potential hazards that those animals may cause, than JUST DON"T GO TO THAT STORE! Go somewhere else! Somewhere where they don’t allow animals, and leave those of use that are willing to accept that slight risk in order to let our dogs socialize go to that store.
I don’t have a dog, but I usually buy cat food at PetSmart, because their prices are good. Never seen any dog leavings in my PetSmart, and if I did, I’d step around it - I’m usually observant like that.
But I know their policy, and if I wanted to go to a place where I’d have zero risk of stepping in dog poop or piss, I’d shop at one of their competitors. I’d expect these nincompoops who are suing to do the same.
…Seeing poop on the floor and falling because of it are two different things. If you fall in it and get hurt, there are real problems.
Suppose the woman went to the emergency room because she was truely injured and they wouldn’t accept her insurance because of where the injury occured. What if the bills amount to big money? Shes supposed to go broke because she knew the risk she was taking?
Some of you are saying that she’s wrong for not philosiphizing about the social needs of “the pet” (yeah right) before she heads out the door.
I do personally avoid those places because I can’t stand to be around other peoples pets.
I generally try to avoid going to Petsmart when buying supplies for my aquarium, but for some things they’re the only place I can find what I need. The other day I was in there and had to make my way through essentially a sea of dogs! I don’t know if they were having some kind of special event/sale, but it being the first nice day in a while didn’t hurt any either. So to get my few fish things I had to wade through maybe 15-20 dogs all trying to sniff my crotch and hump my leg. It was also extremely loud in there, with the dogs barking and people trying to talk over the barking. Not a good shopping experience, so I will be voting with my wallet and going elsewhere as much as possible from now on.
Maybe next time I’ll bring a few of my fish in and let them pick out their own food, and maybe a plant or two!!! 
Fish need to be socialized too, you know (no, really, they do to an extent).
What a shame, my poor little Hector loves going shopping there. 
Exactly. Whether it’s store policy to clean up after accidents or not, to have your dog crap in the middle of the aisle and then just assume someone will be along later to remove it is both disgusting and inconsiderate, IMHO.
I have to take Benji into Petsmart with me, because that’s where the grooming parlour is (over here, the parlours are independently run, and rent space inside the store). But I always grab a big wad of paper towels before leaving the house, just in case he decides to take a dump halfway through the store. Once it’s wrapped up, the grooming staff are only too happy to dispose of it on my behalf. They don’t expect me to carry it home in my pocket, but they do appreciate it when people clean up after their pets.
Those who allow their dogs to shit in the aisle, and pretend not to notice, should be told to leave the store and never come back. Not only are they just plain disgusting, they give other dog owners a bad name.
Just because an injury is a financial inconvenience doesn’t have anything to do with whether the store is liable or not! In your hypothetical, the hospital accepting her insurance or not has absolutely no bearing on whether petsmart was negligent in cleaning up its floors.
I’m sorry that she hurt herself, but come on. People fall every day. Get over it.
I really wasn’t trying to make an argument that the store was negligent. I’m no lawyer.
I assumed that this type of thing happens all the time and is why insurance is carried by the stores.
But no one knows any more what her expectations of the store were any more than they know how long the poop in question was sitting there.
I generally look where I’m going.
Another lover of Petsmart here. And another vote for the frivolity of this lawsuit.
That woman should have been watching where she was walking. If she stepped in a pile of dog poo on a sidewalk and fell, would she sue the city that maintains the sidewalks, the owner of the property near the sidewalk, or the company who mixed and poured the cement? Or would she just sue them all? She deserves an Omnipotent Slap ™.
On the other hand, dog shit just doesn’t come from heaven. It’s not a gift from the gods. It comes from a dog’s butt, which is attached to the dog, which is attached to a leash held by the owner as per Petsmart’s policies. Petsmart provides accident clean up kits at the ends of all of their aisles (at least at the one in my area), and owners should be responsible for picking up their dog’s crap. Where I work (animal hospital), if an animal has an accident and the owner doesn’t at least offer to clean it up, we’ll clean it up, and analyze whatever sample the animal leaves us. Of course if Ms. I’m-Suing-Petsmart-Because-I-Have-Nothing-Better-To-Do-Than-Waste-Flesh actually walked into a busy animal hospital and stepped in poo, she might sue there too. Oh why oh why would there ever be animal excrement on the floor of the vet’s office? Grrr…I’m starting to get her train of thought…let me Omnipotent Slap ™ her again.
Man, I wish I could break my arm, and never have to work again.
Oh, and if your dogs shits, pick it up, you filthy son of a bitch! Jesus Christ, what the fuck is wrong with people that they think the can have their dog shit all over an enclosed area and then bestow the privilege of picking it up to someone else? Is the Brown Fairy going to flutter over and whisk it away it her little Pooper Pouch? Are the Ghostbusters gonna come along and suck it up with their proton pack?
These are the same people who make it a necessity to place a label on the coffee display at work that says “Please deposit trash below.” Ugh. Fucking jackasses.
Not true, they have the lowest canned cat food prices than all the other grocery stores around…at least in my area anyway.
I work in an adoption center located inside of a local Petsmart, and I haven’t noticed a problem with the dogs. They get a little excited sometimes…but I haven’t seen tragic fights, major poop problems, or masses of knocked down merchandise. They even behave around the adoption center, which has nothing but cats.
And, what’s more, I’d be out of a place to give back to the community.
2 years volunteering at the Adoption Center, I wager I’ve adopted maybe 60 dogs that otherwise would’ve been killed by the pound.
Man, you should go to France someday. In Paris, it seems people bring their dogs along with them everywhere they go. Dogs in resturants, shops, brasseries . . . No one seems to mind a bit. You do have to be cautious of the “land mines” on the sidewalks, however.