NYC man wants $5 million for cat bite

NEW YORK, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A New York supermarket clerk is suing a deli owner for $5 million because of a bite he allegedly received from the defendant's cat, the clerk's lawyer said.

Attorney Steven Ehrlich, who represents supermarket clerk Jonas Cruz, alleges his client was bitten at the Cold Cut House by a cat belonging to the deli's owner and Cruz suffered an adverse reaction to the animal's saliva, the New York Post said Sunday.

"He was immediately hospitalized," Ehrlich alleges of the fallout from the 2008 incident. "His body had a reaction to the bite -- his arm blew up."

Ehrlich alleges in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit that his client was unable to work for a month because of an infection caused by the cat bite.

The deli owner, who identified himself only as Frank to the Post, said his cat, Katie, would not have attacked anyone.

"She never bothers anybody," said Frank, who added he received no complaints from customers about his cat the day of the alleged attack. "He's up for a payday."