As most bully breed owners do, I have dealt with much difficulty finding pit bull friendly housing. This is serious problem that tears apart families and sends dogs into shelters and onto the euthanasia table all throughout the world. Many dog owners experience this issue, but for bully breed owners today, the problem is amplified. To get a better understanding as to why, we can look at the discriminatory policies of most major home owners insurance providers.

Despite resistance from dog trainers and veterinarians alike, most home owners insurance providers in the United States have instated breed specific policies which prevent owners of certain breeds from obtaining coverage. Restricted breeds often include but are not limited to Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, Rottweiler, Doberman Pincher, Chow Chow, Akita, German Shepherd, Cane Corso and Huskies. This is a very serious issue in that without home owners insurance, potential home buyers cannot obtain a mortgage, and consequently often cannot buy a home . This trickles down to renters too, as many landlords hold policies which will not cover specific breeds, and therefore cannot rent their properties to many dog owners.

There is absolutely no conclusive evidence that supports the notion that any breed of dog is statistically more likely to bite. The American Veterinary Medical Association’s Task Force on Canine Aggression, the American Kennel Club and the Association of Professional Dog Trainers all oppose both Breed Specific Legislation and Breed Specific Insurance Policies, for good reason. Pitbull- type dogs repeatedly score better than average on canine temperament tests conducted by the American Temperament Test Society at 86.4%, even higher than the Golden Retriever. Why then do insurance companies get away with implementing discriminatory breed specific policies?

Insurance companies claim that they are forced to enact these policies because dog bite incidents are on the rise. The CDC’s data does not support this, nor does it support the claim that certain breeds are more likely to bite or cause property damage than others. While it is possible that insurance providers have their own data to support their claim, I would be hard pressed to accept that data as any more reliable, as it is close to impossible to count either the total number of dogs in the United States or the total population of any given breed. Furthermore, several breeds and breed mixes are lumped together in the US to represent the “pit bull,” which is not a recognized breed by the AKC. We often see American Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Terriers, Bull Terriers, American Bulldogs and many more breeds classified under the umbrella term, “pit bull.”

Many people have found a temporary solution in simply lying about their dogs breed. Although this can be effective in the short-term, I feel that this is ultimately creating a cyclical problem. About 35% of American families own at least one dog, and statistics reports that up to half of these dogs are bully breeds and other “banned” breeds. The bottom line is that insurance companies are businesses, and that businesses exist to make money. If owners of these “banned breeds” refused to financially support these businesses and instead intentionally went through insurance providers without discriminatory policies, the problem would eventually resolve. By proudly proclaiming that we own well-behaved family pets who also happen to be pitbulls, we can economically pressure these companies to make the policy changes we desire. State Farm is one large insurance provider that claims that it does not have breed specific policies. Many smaller insurance providers base their coverage off of individual dogs temperaments as well. While it can be discouragingly difficult to find the companies willing to cover our beloved pets, it is one of the few solutions we have to end this growing problem causing so many pitbulls to lose their families and lives in this country. If you are someone you know if having difficulty finding housing with their dog due to breed discrimination, there are area specific resources out there that can help.

Check out recommendations for finding housing with pitbulls on these websites http://www.badrap.org/renting-your-dog

http://www.mypitbullisfamily.com/how-to-find-housing.html

http://www.petfinder.com/blog/2011/10/national_pit_bull_awareness_da-2/

Law article rejecting Breed Specific Policies from Insurance Providers http://www.animallaw.info/articles/arus11conninslj1.htm

Position Statement on this issue from the Association of Professional Dog Trainers http://www.apdt.com/about/ps/breed_home_ins.aspx

And from the American Kennel Club http://images.akc.org/pdf/canine_legislation/position_statements/Homeowners_Insurance_and_Dangerous_Dogs.pdf