“Breed Profiling”: How Companies Discriminate
Friday, July 31, 2009
A recent story in the Los Angeles Times reported that insurance companies categorize certain breeds as "high risk." According to the story: “It's a trend that began about 10 years ago, at around the same time as statistics were released showing that pit bulls, Rottweilers and German shepherds were responsible for more than half the dog bite fatalities in the U.S. over a 19-year period. Despite opposition from consumers, many insurance companies still maintain a will-not-cover breed blacklist.”
Boerboels are on the list...
...and so are Akitas.
The lists have evolved to include the following breeds:
- Wolf hybrids
- Akitas
- American Bandogge Mastiffs
- Boerboels
- Chow-chows
- Doberman pinschers
- Olde English Bulldogs (English bulldogs are acceptable)
- Rottweilers
- Pit bull breeds, including American Staffordshire Terriers, English Bull Terriers, Pit Bull Terriers, Presa Canarios and Staffordshire Bull Terriers
- Mixed breeds containing any of the above
If a homeowner has what is considered to be a “high-risk” breed, insurers may jack up the policy premiums or simply decline a policy altogether.
The story continues: “But the ASPCA and defenders of some of the most stigmatized breeds, like pit bulls, say dog aggression is often more about owner behavior than breed temperament. Aggression can be fostered in any breed and has been throughout history, as humans exploited the natural strength of certain breeds, [ASPCA senior director of government relations and mediation Jill] Buckley says. In the middle ages, it was the Great Dane, bred and trained to defend the castle moats. The Newfoundland was the bad boy of the 1800s. Today it's the pit bull. ‘There'll be another breed tomorrow. You can't just keep banning breeds. You have to look at responsible ownership,’ Buckley says.”
What do you guys think of this policy?
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