Dogs
and
insurance
Dan
Hattaway
P
ublic opini.on po
ll
s incii ate the
insurance
inciu try
is
not
very p '
pular
with the
Ame.ri
an
publi
. I
believe this
perception
is
caused
largely by a
lack
of
knowledge
about
insurance
issues
and
the negative at-
mosphere
that
often exists
when
people have to
deal
with
personal
insurance
matters.
For
example, the
in-
surance
consumer
has to
pay
what
seems to
be
an
ever
increasing
premium
for
insurance,
which
is
an
intan-
gible
product.
All
the
policyholder
appears to receive
for
his/her
money
is a
piece
of
paper.
The
value
of
the
insurance
contract
is
not
well
understood.
If
policy-
holders
need
to
use
their
insurance
, it is because
their
home
burned
down
or
they
are
being
sued
because
the
family dog
bit
the neighbor.
This
negative
situation
is
compounded
if
there
is a
problem
with
insurance
cov-
erage or the
insurer
indicates
a policy will
be
termi-
nated. A basic
understanding
of
what
insurance
is
and
how
it affects
our
daily lives is necessary to
properly
examine
the issue
of
dogs
and
insurance.
Modern
Society
and
Insurance
Insurance
is
enormously
important
in
modern
society.
Most
people
would
not
be
able to
own
homes
or
automobiles
without
insurance.
Businesses
would
not
be
able to
operate
and
expand
under
constant
threat
of
ruin
from
financial
risks.
Insurance
per-
mits
people
to
plan
for
the
future
with
a
greater
degree
of
certainty
than
would
otherwise
be
pos-
sible.
Thus,
the
insurance
industry
performs
a
valu-
able
service
for society.
The
Insurance
Mechanism
Insurance
is,
with
few exceptions, a business,
and
like all businesses,
it
must
make
a profit to
endure.
Simply stated, the
money
held
by
most
insurance
com-
panies
is the
sum
of
the
premiums
paid
by
their
cus-
tomers
plus
any
investment
income
the
company
can
generate. Policyholder'S claims
and
administrative ex-
penses
are
paid
from these funds.
If
expenses
continu-
ally exceed
income
,
the
insurer
can go
bankrupt
as
would
any
other
business.
Insurance
companies are
in
the
business
of paying claims.
If
chance
of
loss
did
not
exist,
no
one
would
buy
insurance
and
there
would
not
be
a
need
for
insurance
companies. Every time
an
insurance
company
issues a policy,
it
enters
into
a
con-
tract
with
the policyholder.
Risk is the
driving
force
that
creates a
need
for
insurance.
Most
people
do
not
think
about
risk
even
though
they
encounter
it
on
a daily basis. We are
at
risk
riding
in
a car, flying
in
an
airplane, crossing
the
street,
or
sitting
at
home
watching
television. But
what
From State Farm Fire
and
Casualty Co, 1 State
Farm
Plaza,
D-l,
Bloomington,
IL
61710,
is
risk
and
how
does
it
relate to
insurance?
The
dictio-
nary
defines risk as
"the
chance
of
injury, damage,
or
loss; dangerous chance;
hazard
...
"
For
insurance
pur-
poses, this definition is
expanded
to
include
th
e
chance
of
loss,
the
degree
of
probability
of
loss,
the
amount
of
possible loss to the
insuring
company, a
person
or thing
with
reference to the
risk
involved
in
providing
insur-
ance,
or
the type
of
loss
that
a policy covers (eg, fire,
windstorm, negligence).
As
risk varies, so do approaches
to
the
reduction
of
risk-the
appropriate
remedy
de-
pends
on
the
situation.
In
general,
people
manage
risk
in
4 ways: avoidance,
prevention,
assumption
,
or
trans-
fer.
Avoiding
risk
involves
not
engaging
in
an
activity
or
choosing
not
to
own
something
that
could
cause
injury
to
peopl
e
or
damage
to the
property
of others.
Bodily
injury
or
property
damage
can
be
caused
by
operating
an
automobile
or
owning
a home.
To
avoid
the risk
that
a
dog
will
injure
someone
or
cause
prop-
erty
damage, a
person
may
choose
not
to
own
a dog.
Obviously, dog
owners
do
not
consider
avoidance a
reasonable
approach
to
this
risk.
Prevention,
when
possible, is
one
of the
better
solutions
to the
problem
of
risk.
Prevention
reduces
or
removes the possibility of adverse consequences. Keep-
ing
an
automobile
in
good
condition
and
driving de-
fenSively reduces
the
possibility
of
accidents. A fire
extinguisher
in
the
kitchen
makes
it
possible
to
put
out
a grease fire before it gets
out
of
control
and
causes
serious
damage
to
a
home.
Another option is to
assum
e a particular risk.
When
jumping
from a
bridge
or
an
airplane,
one
assumes
the
risk
of
injury
or
death
if
the
bungee
cord
or
parachute
does
not
work
correctly
and
effectively. However,
most
people
would
not
fail to
insure
their
home
or
automo-
bile.
Even
wealthy
individuals,
who
could
afford to
replace
their
home
or
pay
a large
court
judgment,
do
not
want
their assets
depleted
by
such
adverse events.
How
much
and
what
kind
of
risk
a
person
assumes is
a
matter
of
individual
choice.
Transfer
of
risk
involves
shifting
part
or all
of
the
risk
to
another party
Insurance
is a financial risk transfer
mechanism
in
which
individuals
pool
their
money
by
paying
premiums
to
an
insurance
company.
In
return
for
the
premium,
the
individual
reduces
the
uncer-
tainty
of
an
unknown
futur
e loss.
If,
for example, a
mail
carrier falls
and
is
injured
on
a
home
or
business
owner's ice-covered sidewalk,
the
insurance
company
assumes
the owner's
obligation
for
payment
of
the
medical
bills.
Without
insurance,
the
home
or
busi-
ness
owner
would
be
personally
responsible for pay-
ment
of medical bills.
If
a
homeowner
's
dog
injures
the
mail
carrier, the
homeowner's
insurance
company
will
JAVMA, Vol 210,
No.8,
April
IS,
1997
Animal
Welfare
Forum
Human-C
an
ine
Interactions
1143
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pay
the
medical bills.
If
the
homeowner
is
sued
be
..
cause
of
the
injury
, the
homeowner's
insurance
com-
pany
will
defend
him
or
her
and
pay
(up
to the limits
of
the
insurance
policy) a
judgment
against
him
or
her.
Dogs
and
Insurance
There
are approximately
56
million
dogs
in
the
United
States.
It
is virtually impossible for
an
insur-
ance
company
to write
homeowners'
insurance
poli-
cies
without
insuring
homes
with
dogs. State
Farm
estimates that it insures more
than
5 million
such
homes.
In
1995, the company received more
than
11,000 claims
and
paid
$70
million for injuries
caused
by
dogs. These
numb
ers
have
increased dramatically
in
recent
years
and
the
money
paid
on
these
claims
comes
from
policyholder's
premiums.
State
Farm
has
an
obligation
to its
policyholders
to try to
reduce
these losses,
but
the
manner
in
which
the
company
responds
to this
situation
is equally
important.
Any
action
the com-
pany
takes
must
be
effective
and
reasonable.
Each
application
for
insurance
must
be
judged
on
its
own
merits. An
application
should
not
be
accepted
or
rejected
solely
on
the basis
of
there
being
a dog
in
the
hous
e
hold,
nor
should
the
breed
of
the
dog
be a
determining
factor.
If
the
dog
has
bitten
previously,
questions
are asked regarding the circumstances of the
bite
so
that
the probability
of
the
dog
biting
again can
be
assessed.
The
answ
ers to these
questions
are impor-
tant
to
the
insurance
underwriter,
but
there
are
other
factors to
be
considered.
The
most
important
factor is the
dog
owner. The
owner
chooses
the
dog initially.
The
owner
selects the
type
of
training
the dog will receive,
if
any
The
owner
provides
the dog's
environment.
The
owner
controls or
influences,
in
varying degrees,
everything
in
th
dog
's
life
and
is, therefore, obligated to act
in
a responsible
manner
.
If
the
owner
does
not
act
responsibly,
th
ere is
an
increased
probability
that
the
dog will
injure
a per-
n
or
another
anima\. Mi tre
alm
e
nt
of
d · gs, allowing
dogs
to
roam
fr
c, and
inappropriate
ll'aini'ng are ex-
amples
of
irresponsible
ownership
.
Another
important
factor is the
dog
owner's
un-
derstanding
of
how
and
where
dog
bites are likely to
occur.
Most
experts agree that
children
are the
most
common
victims
of
dog bites. My review
of
claims
supported
this fact
an
d revealed
that
many
bite epi-
sodes
had
characteristics
in
common
:
•
Most
bites
occurred
inside
homes
•
The
most
common
victims
were
children
visiting
in
homes
•
Most
children
were alone
with
the
dog
at
the time
of
the
bite
• Adults were
present
in
the
home
at
the
time of
th
e
bite
•
The
dog
involved
was a family pet.
If
this data is
converted
to
risk
factors,
it
appears
that
children
are at greater
risk
of
being
bitten
under
the
following circumstances:
•
When
visiting a
hom
e
where
there is
an
unfamiliar
dog
•
When
adult
supervision
of
interactions
between
children
and
dogs is lacking
•
When
a
child
has
not
been
taught
how
to behave
around
unfamiliar
dogs.
Reduction
of
risk
requires
the
average
dog
owner
to practice more responsible dog ownership. Most people
consider themselves responsible dog owners.
Although
intentionally
irresponsible
behavior
by
owners
is a
problem,
in
many
situations,
irresponsible
behavior
is
a
result
of
inadequate
knowledge.
What
Is Responsible
Dog
Ownership?
A
number
of
organizations,
including
the
AVMA,
have
produced
brochures
addressing
responsible
dog
ownership
and
many
books
have
been
written
about
dog
ownership
and
training
. Despite the availability
of
information,
many
of
the
most
basic
principles
of re-
sponsible dog
ownership
do
not
seem
to
be
well
known
or
und
erstoo
d.
Among
these principles are:
•
Selection
of
a
breed
that
is
appropriate
for the
family
and
home
• Socialization
of
the
dog
with
all
members
of the
family,
people
outside
the
family,
and
other
animals.
•
Proper
training-basic
obedience
training
is as
important
for
the
owner
as
it
is for the
dog
• Ensuring that the dog receives adequate health
care-
this is
not
only
the
right
thing
to do
but
also re-
duces
bite
responses
caused
by
pain
or
irritability;
neutering
may
reduce
aggressive tendencies, es-
peCially
in
males
•
Not
placing a dog
in
a
situation
where
it
feels threat-
ened
or
teased
• Obeying
animal
control,
leash,
and
licensing
laws.
Dogs
should
not
be
permitted
to roam.
Dog
owners
and
parents
of
childr
en
can do
much
to
prevent
dog bites
in
the home. Supe
rvision
of chil-
dren
in
a
home
where
there is
an
unfamiliar
dog
and
training
children
in
the
proper
way to
approach
a
dog
are vital in
preventing
dog bites.
It
is possible to get
and
keep
insurance
AND
be
a
pet
owner
at the
same
time.
The
key is
being
a responsible owner. I believe
that
of
the
insurance
industry
has
a role
in
promoting
responsible
pet
ownership, including education,
to
help
reduce
this
national
problem.
1144
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Interactions
Animal Welfare
Forum
]AVMA, Vol 210, No. 8, April 15, 1997
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