“AKC Dog”

There are times when adopting that shaggy non-descript mutt at the neighborhood shelter is an advantage over purchasing an expensive AKC Dog model. The first advantage is the start up cost, AKC registered pups seldom start at less them three hundred dollars from there the prices can sore into the thousands. The adoption fee for your local pound puppy shouldn’t be more then two hundred bucks and a lot of times they are up to date on all their shots and are already neutered or spayed.

The second time you will notice an advantage to your pound puppy is when you purchase liability insurance. Liability insurance is an insurance policy that will pay out to the injured party if your dog suddenly bites somebody. Several breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club are on several liability insurance companies list of high risk dogs and cost the owner an extra high premium. Many dogs who were bred to be guard dogs are considered a high liability.

The third time you will see a distinct advantage to your pound puppy is if you choose to purchase pet health care insurance. Many pet health care insurance companies will not insure against potential genetic disorders that are common in a particular breed.
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“Pet Health Insurance”

Pet health insurance companies are hoping that someday pet owners in the United States will catch up with European pet owners. A recent poll taken of American pet owners suggested that approximately three percent of American pet owners had purchased pet health insurance for their family pet. A veterinarian who was interviewed after the survey was stunned by the results. She felt that the survey was generous. She believes that less then one percent of her patients have any health care insurance.

In Europe approximately twenty-five percent of all pet owners have some sort of pet health insurance on their pets. The numbers are even higher in Sweden where approximately fifty percent of all pet owners rely on pet health insurance to help pay their pet’s medical expenses.

Some experts believe that the reason so many pet owners in the United Kingdom have pet health care insurance is because of an act passed in 1971. In the United Kingdom dog owners are liable for any accident that their pet is found responsible for. This means that if a dog darts out into traffic and causes a seven car pile up the dog’s owner is responsible for paying all the damages. Unwilling to dip into their own pickets to cover their pet’s misadventures pet owners in the United Kingdom purchase something called third party insurance. Third party insurance is a simply a liability insurance specifically geared to pet owners.
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“Pet Health Insurance”

When pet owners purchase a pet they shop around at the various pet shops, breeders, pet rescues, and animal shelters until they find the dog, cat, or exotic pet that suits them, what very few pet owners do is consider the cost of veterinarian cost for their new pet. The oversight can prove financially devastating and emotionally heartbreaking.

The cost of veterinary cost is on the rise. Technology, liability insurance, medications, and medical research have forced veterinary clinics to raise their cost. Veterinary clinics in rural areas of the country (especially ones that combine their small animal practice with a large animal practice) find it difficult to attract young vets who are graduating from vet school to their clinics; they are forced to offer higher salaries in order to compete with clinics located closer to major cities. The increase in the payroll is then transferred to pet owners.

It was recently estimated that the average dog owner will spend about two hundred dollars a year at the vet’s office. Cats were a little cheaper; their owners only spent about a hundred and sixty dollars in veterinary bills. When you consider what the average life expectancy is for a pet, especially on kept inside, that’s a lot of money. And what if the pet isn’t your run of the mill dog or cat? What if the pet is something more exotic like a pot bellied pig, a ferret, a rabbit, a snake, or even a skunk?
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