Dangerous dogs or
misunderstood pooches? Dog lovers, insurers
tussle over `profiling'
“This
could affect all families with pets before long!”
Coming
to an insurance company near you? Sadly,
yet another instance where, WE must pay for the mistakes and irresponsible actions of the
owners of certain breeds. In a horrifying trend city and county governments have
implimented similar laws and restrictions with BREEDLAWS.
2003-03-04
by Bruce Rommel
Journal Reporter
Pet owners want the state Legislature to put an end to what some call ``canine profiling''
by insurance companies, the practice by some carriers to refuse homeowners' coverage to
those who own Doberman pinschers, Rottweilers or other specific breeds of dogs.
Dog lovers and representatives of insurance companies will state their positions at a
hearing today in Olympia on House Bill 1895, which would make it illegal for insurance
companies to refuse to provide homeowners' insurance solely because of the breed of dog.
This is one of MANY ways in which EVERYONE pays for the poor judgment and subsequent
treatment of their companion animals by people who refuse to do the right thing in
training their animals. It just goes to prove that everyone needs to speak out when
they see someone giving a dog the wrong type of care or guidance. For those of us who
are guardian to one or more of the listed breeds in question, we know it’s not the
dog, but the poor care and lack of attention provided by their humans. In other
words, those who abuse and neglect them. When speaking of ‘training’ in
these cases, it is not necessarily something you pay an outside source to accomplish, but
moreover, simply providing the proper and appropriate care and nurturing for said pet.
Now, most of these people didn’t set out to provide poor treatment to their
pet, they do it out of ignorance. The dog may be friendly to their family, yet show
aggressiveness towards others. What they fail to see is that the dog will likely
attack someone, but it is almost assured it will be the wrong person and could cause
them to loose their home. Finally, after all the claims are filed for lawsuits, who is the
biggest looser? The dog. It will be put to sleep because it was unlucky enough
to end up with a stupid human. It simply takes some socialization with other dogs and new
faces.
One can't blame the insurance companies - this is what they legitimately see as a
problem. Somehow we need to get the message to the humans that, we will all suffer
and the poor animals will continue to die unless they begin to be responsible with the
care we provide for our pets and play by the rules!!! We must begin by convincing
people that it's not ''butting'' in to address a problem with a neighbors pet - it's
simply the responsible thing to do. God, these dogs are ''dying'' for someone to
speak out in their defense!!! The bill's prime sponsor, state Rep. Tom Campbell,
R-South Tacoma, says some carriers are refusing to renew policies or even canceling them
because homeowners have one of the ``black-listed breeds'' of dogs. "`Fewer and fewer
insurance carriers are covering homeowners with large breeds of dogs,'' Campbell said
Monday. "The insurance companies just basically aren't renewing. They're telling
those dog owners to go away,'' Campbell said. Faye Strauss of Kent, who owns three
Doberman pinschers, plans to testify in support of the bill. Like other pet owners, she
believes that there are no bad dogs, just bad or irresponsible owners. "You're buying
a house, you have to have insurance. What if a condition is you have to get rid of your
dog? That's a bit onerous on the homeowner,'' Strauss said. The Washington Animal
Foundation, working with other organizations, has compiled a list of dogs and breeds they
say have been black-listed by insurance companies. The list includes pit bulls and
Rottweilers and other breeds involved in well-publicized attacks on people.
But the list also includes a range of other breeds, including Irish setters, Dalmatians
and German shepherds. "Some of the dogs on that list you wouldn't even think of as
being potentially dangerous, like a collie, for goodness sake,'' said Campbell. He owns
two purebred Rottweilers he says are well trained, well behaved and ``people friendly.''
Campbell said he's received ``about 50 e-mails'' from people around the Puget Sound region
who have had insurance problems because of the breed of their dog, but he didn't have any
figures of how prevalent the problem is statewide.
Kim and David Owens of Granite Falls saw their homeowners' coverage abruptly canceled
about five years ago after their insurance carrier of eight years sent them a survey form
and they reported having three Doberman pinschers. "About a week later, we get a
cancellation notice,'' Kim Owens said.
``These are show dogs with obedience and temperament titles. That didn't matter to them --
just the fact they were Dobermans and they said, `too bad,''' she said. The Owens called
about a dozen insurance carriers but were unable to obtain homeowners' liability coverage.
They now have only mortgage insurance. The National Association of Independent Insurers,
which represents about 750 companies nationwide, will oppose the legislation, said Michael
Harrold, a spokesman for the group. Nationwide, about 30 percent of all claims against
homeowners' liability policies involve dog bites, Harrold said. `It's a very
serious, and at times, costly, issue,'' he said.
Karl Newman, executive director of the Washington Insurance Council, which represents
companies doing business in this state, said the majority of carriers aren't basing
coverage on any list of dog breeds. `It's not like there's some crisis out there
where if you own a Chow, you just can't get insurance. That's just not happening,''
Newsman said.
Some companies do consider a homeowner's breed of dog, especially if it's a larger breed,
Newman said, but most carriers are more concerned about whether the dog has a history of
being viscous or threatening. "`If you have a poodle that bit somebody, you have an
issue and you're going to have trouble getting homeowners' insurance,' Newman said.
DOG BREEDS ON INSURERS' LISTS
The Washington Animal Foundation, which encourages proper training of all dogs, says
informal research across the nation by related groups has found insurance companies are
less likely to insure homeowners who own certain breed of dogs. The list, which the WAF
says varies from state to state, includes the following breeds and types of dogs:
* Akita
* American Pit Bull Terrier
* American Staffordshire Terrier
* Bull mastiff
* Bull terrier
* Chow Chow
* Collie
* Dalmatian
* Doberman pinscher
* English bulldog
* German shepherd
* Great Dane
* Greyhound
* ``Guard dogs''
* Irish Setter
* Keeshound
* Kuvasz
* Malamute
* Rottweiler
* Siberian husky
* Staffordshire bull terrier
· Wolfhound |
