Dear Hounded: This issue of homeowner’s insurance with breed-specific bans for pure-bred dog owners has been going on for a long time in the industry. Unfortunately, it is legal in most states and is only getting worse.

The recent publicity around the dog-mauling death in San Francisco where the dog’s owner was convicted of second-degree murder has insurance companies running scared. In many instances, agents are calling long-time homeowners to check up on them to see if they have acquired any new dogs in the last few years.

For example, I found a list of blacklisted breeds from major insurance carriers like All State, AIG, Liberty Mutual and Nationwide. All listed the Rottweiler as a breed they would not issue policies for. In fact, Liberty Mutual went as far as to require veterinarian verification that any mixed-breeds owned by policyholders did not contain a majority of any of the blacklisted breeds is its mix.

Other ‘banned’ breeds include popular breeds like German Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, Huskies, Akitas and Chow Chows. Pit bull-type breeds, other rare breeds such as the Presa Canarios and wolf-hybrids are also mentioned. Some companies will offer discounts if you don’t own a dog and many will now ask if your dog has ever bitten anyone and if they have ask you to remove the dog from the premises.

If you can’t get your carrier to issue you a policy then shop around for other companies. Visit www.akc.org/life/homeins/tips.cfm for the American Kennel Club’s Homeowners’ Insurance Resource Center for more information. Among their tips are asking dog-owning friends who insures them, contacting your state insurance commissioner or state representative for help or to buy a separate liability policy that covers your dog.

Lisa’s Pick of the Litter

Last year the “Puppy Protection Act” (PPA) was introduced in Congress to strengthen the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) that regulates the commercial dog breeding industry. Currently, the AWA does not regulate breeding practices of any species of animal covered under the act. That may change.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is supporting and lobbying for new legislation introduced by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) this year that brings PPA back. The bill, H.R. 3484 will be joined by similar legislation in the Senate. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) is expected to sponsor his own version after the holiday recess.

What is bad about this bill is it strives to regulate the breeding practices of all breeders of purebred dogs, not only the commercial wholesalers who sell directly to the pet shops, but the hobby breeder who breeds in their home and sells directly to the public.

The HSUS has a reputation of being a radical animal rights group wanting to abolish all animal agriculture, including the breeding of purebred dogs. If this is the case, then eventually the federal government may be mandating no more purebred pets. I urge you all to write to your representatives and senators and ask them not to co-sponsor or support H.R. 3484 or any similar bill introduced in the U.S. Senate.

The AWA as it stands does an ample job of regulating health conditions of commercial breeding bitches, so please let’s not let the federal government into regulating how many times a bitch can be bred and at what age. Eventually, if such a law is enacted, it would become much easier to change it to say “never breed at any age” and then we would lose our purebred dogs as pets forever.

Lisa Peterson, a breeder and exhibitor of Norwegian Elkhounds, is a Delegate to the American Kennel Club. Write to Lisa at www.lisa-peterson.com or Dogma Publishing, P.O. Box 307, Newtown, CT 06470.