Many puppies are welcomed into households every Christmas. Puppies are high on the wish-list of many young ones year in and year out. If you are a parent and homeowner, before bringing Fido home this Christmas, you may want to check your homeowner policy.
Not every homeowner is aware of the various liability coverages – let alone the exclusions – that exist in a homeowner policy. As we all know, pets, in particular dogs (some breeds more than others), are at times able to cause property damage or bodily injury. Some insurance companies have gone out of their way to identify the breed of dog where ownership of such breed will preclude coverage. One policy I found states the following:
Under Coverage D and E we do not cover…Bodily injury or property damage arising out of the ownership of, custody of, or care for the following pure or mixed breed or pure or mixed type of dogs: (1) Any pit bull type of dog (which may be known as American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier, Miniature Bull Terrier, American Bulldog, Dogo Argentino or Alpha Blue Bulldog); (2) Rottweiler; (3) Akita (which may be known as a Japanese Akita or Akita Inu); or (4) Canary Dog (which may be known as a Presa Canario or a Perro de Presa Canario).
Other policies may have different breed restrictions. I have yet to see the Chihuahua listed as a restricted breed, although if you ask me, some can be little terrors. (No offense to Chihuahua owners and lovers).
On a parting note, thank you all for reading my blogs this year. Have a wonderful holiday season.
