My pit bull Harley is the best dog I have ever had!
With this pit bull ban in ontario, I am finding it very difficult to find a insurance company for the million dollar liabilty insurance that is required.
However, I recently heard through a friend that your dog is automatically covered under your house insurance.. is this true? If not, what should I do in order to find a insurance company for my dog?:confused: PLEASE HELP!!

I can not speak for Candad, but in the US, they are covered BUT, most restrict certain breeds, this being one of them, so many people who don't read their policies in the US, find that these dogs are speicficly not covered.

Wendy, I feel your pain. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with Canadian law. But, as Fr Chuck states, in the U.S. most homeowner policies do not cover certain breeds, Pitbulls being one of them.

The best advice I can give to you is to reach out to others in your area that are having the same problem. I have found a few web sites that talk about it. You might want to contact these people and find out what they know, or if they have any advice for you as to where you can start researching affordable insurance. Good Luck to you honey! :)

AFTU

DDB: Anti-tethering Laws Gain Favor : No Chained Dogs!

Who's Grandfathered?, Enacting Breed-Specific Legislation, Breed Specific Laws

Breed Specific Legislation

One key source of information is your local agent or broker. At times I have been asked about insurance when asking permission to take my puppies in a public place. So one day I dropped into my American Family Home insurance office with Peggy. It happened an underwriter from the home office was there. American Family Home is relatively dog friendly, and the underwriter assured me wherever I took my puppies, I was protected by my homeowners liability. Peggy did a fine job of showing what a nice dog she was.

Your agent can help you pick through your policy and find out what is covered and isn't and what is available. A broker can match you to a company that has the coverage you need. Does Canada have anything like the AKC Canine Good Citizen certification? It couldn't hurt.

If anybody asks, Labman is against breed specific legislation for what that is worth.

I am glad to hear labman is against breed specific legislation!

Unfortunately, with the bans, Good Canine Citizenship certs have no effect. When that law went into effect, there was a huge scramble to rehouse Pits who were certified Pet Therapy Dogs in Canada, here into the U.S. I was contacted by a number of people about it. Most local insurance agencies are not that helpful in trying to find coverage for the rejected breeds. They just aren't affiliated with the few companies who do cover it. There are only a few here in the states, but the only way to find them is to ask rescue groups, or other owners of these breeds. Where I live, there isn't any coverage. I found one agency in the next state over, but they didn't do business here. So, I am covered for the fosters I do that are not Rotties, Shepherds, Pits,. but not for any of those breeds. Needless to say, those fosters are kept on a short lead and not allowed around anyone until I am comfortable with my handling of them and with their aggression level.

Thank you so much.. I stopped to talk to my Vet that I bring Harley to and she advised that I call the Windsor City Hall Licensing Advisor and just ask my questions but remain totally annonimous. The advisor said that as long as I have Million Dollar Liability Insurance on my house then my dog is automatically covered under it, but she also told me that my insurance company doesn't have to know that I have a pitbull. So today I am calling to find out what my liability is on my home and make changes to keep my dog!
Hopefully everything works out for me.. thank you so much for the links and the advice, it was greatly appreciated by my family, myself, and of course Harley!

When you contact your insurance company, you should also insure that you have a rider in your policy that covers people who come to your home as service people, etc. For instance, the guy who cleans the eavestroughs (read the guy who claims your dog bit him), the paperboy, etc. That should give you additional backup.

Didi

Hi Wendy, glad we could help and grammadidi has made some good points. What you were advised is what I have done myself. I know my dog won't bite anyone, just as you know your Harley won't. But, just be prepared for your insurance company to send you a questionnaire at some point asking what breed you have. I was not fully truthful. I put down mixed breed terrier. Technically, it is truthful but when you get down to the nitty gritty and the insurance companies, it is not. So, there will be a bit of a moral dilemma for you here, as there was for me. I also thought you should know that if our dogs did bite someone and the person sued us, our insurance won't cover us because we "lied" about the breed. I am assuming the only reason you are getting this insurance is to cover yourself due to the ban. Not sure how that will work with the ban because I am not well versed in it. I wish you, your family, and Harley, the best of luck. :)

You are hanging out on a limb.

Yes, your city hall I guess will accept the home owners policy to cross its "T" and dot its "i".

But against unless insurance is different in Canada a lot from the US, home owners policies do not automatically insure all dogs, and many in the small fine print exclude many breeds and types of dogs. And others don't insure any unless they are listed and told to the insurance compnay.

Assuming you have coverage is a bad thing,

I have to go along with Chuck. You need to know what your policy says and your insurance company's rules. It is a shame that you could be squeezed if you followed my original advice and openly discussed it with your agent.

Perhaps you might better sit down and read through it yourself. They aren't exactly meant for a lay person to understand them. You might run the more confusing parts by the law forum here. I hope we have good people there. If your policy specifically excludes Pit Bull, you had better look around for another company.