Imagine adopting a dog — maybe a Rottweiler named Bruno or an American Staffordshire Terrier you pulled from a shelter — only to find out your homeowners insurance company wants to drop you. Not because Bruno has ever hurt anyone. Not because of anything you did. Just because of his breed. If this caught your interest, don't miss Yes, Your Insurance Company CAN Discriminate Against Your Dog.
It sounds absurd. But it happens to tens of thousands of dog owners across the United States every year, and for many, the consequences go far beyond a frustrating phone call. Some families are forced to rehome beloved dogs. Others go uninsured. And until recently, there wasn't much anyone could do about it.
That's starting to change. In 2026, a growing number of states are taking direct aim at what critics have dubbed "dog-scrimination" — the practice of denying, canceling, or inflating homeowners and renters insurance policies based solely on a dog's breed. The movement is gaining real momentum, and dog owners with so-called "restricted" breeds have more reason for optimism than at any point in the last 30 years.
The Breeds on Insurance Companies' Secret Blacklists
Most major insurance companies maintain some version of a breed restriction list, though few advertise the practice openly. According to ValuePenguin's analysis of insurer policies, the breeds most commonly flagged include:
- Pit bulls and American Staffordshire Terriers
- Rottweilers
- German Shepherds
- Doberman Pinschers
- Chow Chows
- Akitas
- Huskies and Malamutes
- Great Danes
- Mastiffs
- Wolf hybrids and certain mixed breeds suspected of carrying these bloodlines
If your dog appears on that list — or is even suspected of being a mix of a restricted breed — your insurer may increase your premium, exclude liability coverage for your dog entirely, cancel your policy at renewal, or refuse to issue a new one. Some insurers will deny coverage without ever telling you breed was the reason.
The financial stakes for the industry are real. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), U.S. insurers paid out roughly $1.57 billion for nearly 23,000 dog-related injury claims in 2024, with the average claim exceeding $69,000. Insurance companies argue that certain breeds carry higher statistical risk, and that breed restrictions are a reasonable underwriting tool.
But responsible dog owners — the ones whose dogs have never so much as growled at a stranger — are paying the price for an entire breed's reputation. And mounting evidence suggests they shouldn't have to.
Why This Logic Doesn't Hold Up
The insurance industry's reasoning is intuitive on the surface. It doesn't hold up under scrutiny.
The ASPCA has been direct on this issue, stating that breed-based insurance discrimination is "unjustified and unsupported by data" and that "there is no evidence to support the assertion that breed-specific insurance claims are financially more significant to insurers than other paid losses."
Part of the problem is identification. Breed labels — especially for mixed-breed dogs — are notoriously unreliable. Studies have repeatedly shown that visual breed identification is accurate only about 25% of the time, meaning a dog labeled "pit bull" by a shelter employee or a vet may have little to no pit bull DNA. When insurers rely on visual ID to enforce breed restrictions, they're penalizing dogs based on how they look, not what they've done.
More fundamentally, aggression is not a breed trait — it's an individual one, shaped by socialization, training, history, and environment. The American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, and the Centers for Disease Control have all stated that breed alone is not a reliable predictor of whether a dog will bite. Yet millions of dogs and their owners are still being penalized as though it were.
Consider the numbers: pit bulls are estimated to make up roughly 20% of the U.S. dog population — somewhere around 18 million dogs. The overwhelming majority have never bitten anyone. Penalizing all of them for the behavior of a fraction is a blunt instrument that harms the many for the sins of the few.
The States That Already Protect You
A handful of states have already passed laws to stop insurance companies from making coverage decisions based on breed alone.
New York, Nevada, Illinois, and Michigan are among the states that now prohibit insurers from denying coverage or raising rates solely because of a dog's breed. These laws share a common structure: they require insurers to assess each dog as an individual. A dog with a documented bite history can still be a factor in underwriting decisions — but breed alone cannot be the reason for denial or cancellation.
When New York's law passed, the ASPCA commended Governor Hochul for signing it, calling it "a model for other states to follow." Dog owners in those states can now get coverage based on their actual dog's record — not a species-wide stereotype.
A 2026 Wave of New Legislation
The protected-states list is growing. Several significant bills are moving through state legislatures right now.
In Pennsylvania, House Bill 1515 — introduced by Rep. Kathleen "KC" Tomlinson — would prohibit insurers from discriminating against homeowners based solely on their dog's breed. Under the bill, coverage decisions could still be affected by individual behavior: if a specific dog has been legally classified as dangerous under Pennsylvania's Dog Law, that's fair game. Breed alone would not be.
In Michigan, a bill re-introduced in early 2026 would similarly bar home and renters insurers from denying, canceling, or raising prices based on a dog's breed. Advocates writing for the Great Lakes Echo called the practice what it is — "dog-scrimination" — and noted that the bill has backing from animal welfare organizations and responsible breeders alike.
Advocacy groups including the ASPCA and Best Friends Animal Society are pushing at both the state and federal level for breed-blind insurance to become the national standard. More than a dozen states now have some form of active legislation under consideration. The momentum is real.
What Dog Owners Can Do Right Now
If you live in a state without protections — which is most of the country — you're not without options. But you'll need to be proactive.
Shop around aggressively
Not all insurance companies maintain breed restriction lists. Some major carriers — including State Farm — do not discriminate by breed at all. Bankrate maintains a regularly updated guide to which companies have breed restrictions and which don't. Comparison shopping before buying or renewing is essential, and it's worth being explicit when you call: "I have a [breed] — do you have any restrictions?"
Earn credentials that demonstrate temperament
The AKC's Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification is a standardized test of a dog's behavior and temperament. Some insurers will consider CGC status as evidence that your dog is well-trained and lower-risk. Obedience training records, professional temperament assessments, and documentation of your dog's veterinary history can all help make the case that your individual dog deserves individual consideration.
Consider a standalone umbrella or liability policy
If your homeowners or renters policy excludes your dog from liability coverage, a personal umbrella policy can fill the gap. It's an extra line item in the budget — but it protects you if your dog is ever involved in an incident, regardless of your main insurer's breed rules.
Be transparent from the start
Omitting your dog's breed on an application — or hoping no one will notice — can backfire badly. If a claim is ever filed and the insurer discovers the misrepresentation, you could lose all coverage retroactively. Disclose your dog's breed upfront and use that conversation to find a carrier willing to work with you. There are more of them than you'd expect.
Contact your state representative
Legislation like Pennsylvania's HB 1515 only advances when constituents make noise. If you own a dog that falls on a breed restriction list, a five-minute email or phone call to your state representative's office genuinely matters. The bills that passed in New York and Nevada got there because dog owners showed up.
Your Dog Deserves to Be Judged as an Individual
The idea that a calm, well-trained dog with no bite history should cost its owner their home insurance — while a genuinely aggressive dog of an "approved" breed pays standard rates — is hard to defend on any principled ground. And increasingly, legislators across the country are refusing to defend it.
Breed-blind insurance laws won't solve every challenge facing dog owners. But they represent something important: the recognition that how a dog behaves matters more than what they look like or what they've been labeled. That's a standard most dog owners have lived by for years.
It's past time the insurance industry caught up.
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