WSAZ Investigates: Dog Liability Insurance

10pm: Beloved Pet Set to be Euthanized

UPDATE 1/12/12 @ 6p.m.

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Oh. (WSAZ) -- A death sentence due to lack of insurance. That's the looming situation for a local woman who owns a pit bull.

Christine Darby's pit bull got out of the yard and injured a man and his dog. The incident landed her dog in the pound.

The dog warden required Christine to show proof of liability insurance and when she didn't have any and couldn't afford to buy it, after given several months to do so, the dog was scheduled to die.

Ohio is one of several states that requires liability insurance on vicious dogs including pit bulls. The law isn't new, but this case raised some red flags.

Many folks are just learning about this law because of Christine's case.

That's mainly because it's not widely enforced and in most of Ohio, it's not even well documented who owns a pit and whether or not they're insured.

When Laura Wagner talks about what her dog, bear, means to her, it doesn't take much to feel the love.

“We've been through a lot together. He's a like a family member to me,” Laura said.

For her, the fact that he's a pit bull doesn't change a thing.

“It breaks my heart the way some people feel about this breed because he really has been the best dog that I've ever owned,” Laura said.

But, according to Ohio state law, owners of dogs considered vicious, including pit bulls, must obtain liability insurance.

“We're probably not going to be able to help them,” Jeff Hutchison said.

Jeff Hutchison, an Ohio insurance agent, tells WSAZ.com finding a carrier that will insure a pit is easier said than done and it may even prevent you from insuring your home.

“Because these dogs bite a lot and our carriers just don't want to deal with it,” Jeff said.

Complete coverage for a pit doesn't come cheap.
The Ohio Insurance Exchange will charge you nearly $600 for six months of coverage and more than $800 for a full year to be paid in full up front.

For Laura, watching her beloved bear, knowing he'd never harm anyone, it's just too much to wrap her mind around.

“It’s breed discrimination and it’s not fair,” Laura said.

WSAZ.com also learned a bill has been sent to the house in Ohio taking the pit bulls out of vicious dog laws based on breed, instead basing it on behavior. If it passes the state legislature, that would mean a pit bull would only be considered vicious if it demonstrates bad behavior.

More than 30 states have some type of vicious dog laws.

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (WSAZ) -- A dog in Portsmouth has been scheduled to be euthanized because its owner failed to get it properly insured.

In the state of Ohio, certain dogs are classified as "vicious." State law requires owners of vicious animals to insure them with a $100,000 policy. Pit bulls are considered by the state to be vicious.

Animal Control in Portsmouth says the dog in question, a 3-year-old pit bull named Shorty, had attacked a man and his dog who were out taking a walk -- both resulting in injuries.

The next day, animal control says, Shorty escaped from his house and was found in another part of town. They picked up the dog, where it was discovered Shorty was not properly insured.

"The dog could not be properly restrained so it had to be taken to the Scioto County Humane Society," Wendy Payton, with Animal Control, told WSAZ.com. "For public safety, in case the dog is running at large and it bites someone, they're liable for they're actions."

Christine Darby, the dog's owner, was given two months to acquire proper insurance -- but she told WSAZ.com she is on a fixed income and simply can't afford it. She said she didn't know about the law requiring the insurance policy until after she got her dog. By then, he was already like part of the family.

Darby said she had hoped someone who could afford to insure her dog properly would adopt him, but found out that is impossible. Because Shorty is classified as "vicious," he is prohibited from being adopted out.

Shorty is set to be euthanized on Tuesday.

"I respect that I can't afford it, therefore I can't have him, but if they'd just let him live. I just don't want him to die," Darby said. "It's like losing one of my kids. It's killing me."