"[Morpheus] flipped onto his back when my mom still
had her hand out," Jamrogiewicz told 9NEWS. "When she was going down
to continue petting him, he bit her on her hand rather aggressively and
wouldn't let go for at least 15-20 seconds."
"When she finally got her hand away it was bleeding in
about 7 or 8 different spots," she said.
Jamrogiewicz said her mother was treated for the bite at
the counter. But after she got home, she realized it was infected.
She went to an urgent care clinic for treatment and was
charged $305. She asked the café to pay the medical bill, but the owner, Sana
Hamelin, wouldn't agree to it.
The suit demands $5,920 for the $305 in medical bills plus
missed work and the emotional toll for the entire endeavor.
"We wouldn't be able to survive as a business model if
we were opening ourselves up to taking responsibility for a cat's behavior,
because we can't guarantee that a cat won't bite or scratch," Hamelin
said.
Hamelin said she did offer to pay part of the bill, but
admits people get adequate warning about how unpredictable cats are with signs
warning people to "pet at their own risk."
"We just let everyone know [petting] is a risk. If
they're not willing to take that risk, then they shouldn't pet cats that don't
belong to them," she said. "I don't think there's a cat in existence
that hasn't bitten or scratched."
Jamrogiewicz said her mother missed a week of work because
of the infected bite and complications from an antibiotic she was prescribed.
She said her mother is the sole provider for the household after her father
went on disability because of a brain tumor.
"They're under a lot of financial stress,"
Jamrogiewicz said. She claims the missed work hurt her parents' finances even
more.
She said the day of the bite, Hamelin asked if it was
Morpheus who bit her mother. Jamrogiewicz claims Hamelin knew he was a dangerous
cat and should have been removed from the café.
However, Hamelin told 9NEWS Morpheus was one of the most
popular cats in her shop.
"He was here for a long time and was very popular with
our customers and managed to interact with a lot of people," Hamelin said.
Hamelin says after Jamrogiewicz and her mother started
asking for compensation for the bite, she told the rescue that provided the
cats for the café. That rescue then decided to pull all of their felines from
the café for risk.
"Because of your claim, the shelter has terminated its
relationship with the café," Hamelin wrote in an email to Hodges on March
11.
Jamrogiewicz said Hamelin is blaming her mother for losing
that rescue, and the accusation is causing emotional stress.
Hamelin said she agreed to pay more than half of Hodges'
medical bills in the beginning, but the family refused to agree to that
settlement demanding the entire total.
Jamrogiewicz offered another settlement to Hamelin: if the
shop paid her mother's medical bills, Jamrogiewicz would make a donation to a
cat rescue for the same amount.
Hamelin turned that settlement down and instead offered to
make the donation herself in lieu of paying the medical bills.
Jamrogiewicz and her mother refused and filed the $6,000
lawsuit in early April. Hamelin was served last week.
"I guess a lot of people think this is frivolous, and
to us, to be honest, it is too," Jamrogiewicz said. "She should have
just paid the $300."
Hamelin said she could have just submitted the claim to her
insurance, but it was already close enough to the deductible. Also, she worried
about her insurance rates going up.
She also said she didn't want to create a precedent for
others to sue over an issue she clearly warns people about before they walk in.
"I'm just a solitary person trying to do this by
myself so it's tough to be sued when you're not a big corporation," she
said "We're not rolling in money here."
The case is due for a hearing in early June.
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