By Sloane Quealy-Miner
Fight for my rights!
Every day in shelters across our country, countless dogs suffer and die as a result of being unjustly judged by their looks alone. These innocent animals are publicly demonized and condemned for the bad acts of a few; they are stereotyped as “vicious”, “killers”, and “dangerous” based on a very loose appearance-based definition of breed, not their individual behavior.
Homeowner insurance companies that write breed specific policies and the property management companies who purchase these policies are directly responsible for the deaths of many of these dogs. Their policies make it impossible for a huge percentage of the public to adopt these animals.
The list of dog breeds that may prevent an individual from securing homeowner’s insurance or from renting a home from a management company that holds one of the breed specific policies are:
Akita
Alaskan Malamute
Chow Chow
Doberman pinscher
German shepherd
American pit bull terrier
Presa Canario
Rottweiler
Siberian husky
Staffordshire bull terrier
Wolfdogs, also known as wolf hybrids.
Lists of restricted or “dangerous” dogs also include dogs that are mixed with any of the aforementioned breeds.
Insurance companies should determine coverage based on the deed, not on the breed. If a dog is a well adjusted member of the household and community, there should be no reason to deny or cancel coverage.
I have called numerous insurance companies and the only one that I found that will cover all dog breeds in their policies is State Farm Insurance.
Call to Action
Fight insurance discrimination against dog owners and contact your state senator or representative and urge them to introduce a bill that will address the practices of many breedist insurance companies. Six states including New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, Illinois, South Carolina and Vermont have bills pertaining to homeowner insurance issues pending. If there is a bill already introduced in your state please convey your support of the proposed bill.
Also, contact your state insurance Commissioner expressing opposition to discrimination based on breed.
Breedism is the canine equivalent to racism and it must be stopped. Who will be next on their hit list!
Fantastic post, We have four Spitz myself.
It’s been several years since I had to had to give up my sweet loving Pitbull,
Chopper. I found him as a puppy, too young to be away from his mother,
wandering in the streets. He was sick with pneumonia and very weak. My
husband and I gave him around the clock care. In the 5 years we had him,
he never bit anyone and rarely even barked at anyone! The neighborhood
children all loved him.
I had to surrender him because my homeowner’s insurance refused to renew
my policy after I stupidly answered two questions “Do you own a
dog?” “What breed is your dog?” I was then informed that I had to get rid
of the dog because his breed was on the “HOT Dog” list. I was unable to find a good suitable home for him. At that time there were
many Pits in the animal shelters that unknown to the shelter administrations
were being adopted by people who were placing them in dog fighting. I did not
want this to happen to my dog, so I had him put down. This traumatized my whole family and I will never forget the look on my dog’s face. He seemed to know. The heartache and guilt that has come along with this decesion has caused me great sorrow through the years and much anger towards the insurances companies. Insurance companies home, health, car are getting too p0werful and dictating people’s lives and something needs to be done.
Thank you for putting out your post for people like me to find.
Awesome post, animals are the best.
Great post, I love animals myself, always have.
Nice post, animals are the best.
I have Farmers, recently upgraded policy and specifically queried them on Pit Bulls and German Shepherds (I have 2 of each) and their covering my babies..
I was asked 2 questions….
Do you have a fence? Yes, 360 degree Chain link.
Have your dogs ever gotten out or escaped from your yard? NOPE.
I set the level of Liability and got my updated Renter’s policy within 30 minutes.. I hate to sound like an advertisement but Glad that I switched to Farmer’s…