A Virginia man is suing his local PetSmart store claiming that while shopping he slipped on a pile of dog feces and badly hurt his back, struck his head and knocked out four of his false teeth.
 
Robert Holloway is suing the Newport News (VA) PetSmart for $1 million, alleging that the store and its manager were negligent the day of the accident because they either knew or should have known there was a pile of feces on the floor.  Holloway's lawsuit further contends that if the store did know about it then its employees should have cleaned it up before Holloway stepped in it, specifically stating that PetSmart and its employees "negligently allowed animals to enter the premises and deposit feces in such a manner as to create a dangerous and hazardous condition."
 
Holloway's lawyer, Michael Goodove of Norfolk, said, "That's the problem - you can bring your pet on the premises.  But that requires a higher level of diligence. You've got a duty to remove dangerous substances."
 
PetSmart counters that the store and manager were not negligent in the accident and that pet accidents are a fact of life in its stores, where leashed pets are welcome visitors and every store has "oops" stations, clearly marked, with clean-up supplies.  PetSmart spokeswoman Jessica White added that employees are trained to clean up messes and customers are encouraged to clean up after their pets.
 
According to news reports, PetSmart's annual reports say it is a frequent target of personal injury litigation, but the costs of such suits were not released.
 
—Source:  The Virginian-Pilot