ANIMAL PEOPLE is the
leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage
of animal protection worldwide. Founded in 1992, ANIMAL PEOPLE has
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Australia, Connecticut, insurance
industry look at breed-specific policies
Bob Carr, prime minister of New South Wales state, Australia, announced
on May 3, 2005 that his government will introduce mandatory sterilization
of all pit bull terriers, American pit bulls, Japanese tosas, Fila Brasieros,
and Dogo Argentinos. “If you are thinking of getting a pit bull,
don’t,” commented Royal SPCA of NSW chief executive Bernie Murphy
to Gerard Noonan and Bonnie Malkin of the Sydney Morning Herald. “These
are fighting dogs. They are totally inappropriate animals to have in a
residential community.”
The Connecticut House of Representatives on May 4, 2005 approved a bill
to bar insurers from refusing to cover specific breeds of dog, 77-70––a
surprising upset in “The Insurance State.” The state capitol
in Hartford is within blocks of the head offices of several of the largest
insurance firms in the world. “The bill does allow insurers to use
breed when underwriting a homeowner’s or renter’s policy,”
explained Susan Haigh of Associated Press. “Insurers could require
owners of particular breeds to have their dogs neutered or take them to
obedience training.”
The Insurance Information Institute estimates that U.S. dog attack liability
claims in 2003 cost $321.6 million, at about $16,600 per claim paid. The
ANIMAL PEOPLE log of life-threatening and fatal attacks by dogs kept as
pets, together with similar data on attacks by all dogs, maintained by
the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, indicates that pit bull
terriers, Rottweilers, and their close mixes, about 6% of all dogs covered
by homeowners and renters insurance, appear to have accounted for about
$240 million (75%) of the damages.
