NY: Help end breed discrimination in homeowners insurance

Urge your elected officials to support Assembly Bill 723 and Senate Bill 4286.

All dogs are individuals. Yet when it comes to homeowners insurance policies, New York still permits wealthy companies to discriminate against dogs and the people that care for them.

The good news? Legislation to prohibit breed discrimination in the homeowners insurance market is moving through your state legislature.

Assembly Bill 723 and its companion bill in the senate, S 4286, would compel insurance companies to assess risk based on each individual dog’s behavior — not the arbitrary factors of breed or appearance.

If enacted, these bills will save thousands of dogs throughout the state and set a lifesaving precedent that we hope to see repeated throughout the country.

TAKE ACTION: Urge your assembly member and senator to support A 723 and S 4286, respectively.

Send a personalized message below.

Share on your favorite social network:

Recipients

Your State Senator or Senators
Your State Representative or Representatives

Contact

*Required fields

* Title:

* First Name:

* Last Name:

* Email:

* Address 1:

Address 2:

* City:

* State / Province:

* ZIP / Postal Code:

* Phone Number:

Yes, I would like to receive email from Best Friends Animal Society

Remember me. What's this?

Message

Say no to discrimination: Support A 723 and S 4286

Dear [Decision Maker],

As your constituent, I urge you to support A 723 and S 4286, two common-sense bills that would end the pernicious practice of breed discrimination in the homeowners insurance market.

* Personalize your message

All dogs are individuals! This is clear to anyone who has ever met a dog, let alone to all of us that interact with them regularly. It is also supported and verified by every peer-reviewed research paper and study that has looked at the issue.

Insurance policies should be based on the behavior of each individual dog and owner, not on outdated and disproven myths and stereotypes about certain types of dogs.

This body has already determined that breed discrimination is inherently wrong: New York is one of 22 states to outlaw breed-specific and discriminatory laws on the municipal level and this legislation is underpinned by the exact same logic.

What's more, discrimination in the homeowners market affects many types of dogs and owners. Common breeds like German shepherds, Rottweilers, huskies and Great Danes are oftentimes found on the "exclusion lists." It doesn't matter if these dogs are therapy dogs, service dogs or search-and-rescue animals (or even just lazy couch potatoes), they can still be denied.

Discrimination based on appearance is wrong and it's exactly why we need A 723 and S 4286 signed into law.

These bills are a priority for me and for the millions of other New Yorkers that care about their pets. Please support these common-sense bills today.

Thank you.

Sincerely,