Nation’s Largest Pet Insurer Nominates Pets for Most Unusual Insurance Claim
Brea, Calif. (August 2, 2010) — Jack the Jack Russell terrier from Denver, Colo. is among the 12 contenders vying for the VPI Hambone Award for the most unusual pet health insurance claim of the year. For the second year in a row, Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation’s leading pet health insurance provider will grant the VPI Hambone Award to one of its more than 485,000 insured pets. Choosing among the 12 nominees is no easy task, which is why VPI is asking the public to visit www.VPIHamboneAward.com between August 2 and 16 and decide which dog, cat, or desert tortoise will take home the coveted VPI Hambone Award.
While on a trip to Australia, Jack was sent to the veterinarian after tangling with a large predatory lizard. The pet with the claim voted most unusual by the public will receive the VPI Hambone Award, named in honor of a VPI-insured dog that got stuck in a refrigerator and ate an entire Thanksgiving ham while waiting to be found.
Following are brief summaries of the remaining 11 unusual claims nominated for the award over the course of the last year. All pets considered for the award made full recoveries and received insurance reimbursements for eligible treatment expenses. To read more detailed accounts of each claim and to place a vote for a favorite Hambone nominee, visit www.VPIHamboneAward.com.
* July 2009 – Jojo the boxer (Jacksonville, Fla.). Dogs chase cars, but how many dogs catch one? Jojo did, and nearly lost a tooth as a result.
* August 2009 – Sandy the Abysinnian (Irvine, Calif.). Just about everyone has had something go through the clothes dryer they didn’t intend to: a wallet, a tube of lipstick. But the family pet? Curiosity dried this cat when she sneaked into the dryer and took a spin.
* September 2009 – Aubie the Border collie (Birmingham, Ala.). In the age-old battle of Dog vs. Mailman, Aubie scored what is almost certainly a historic first when he jumped through and shattered a closed living room window to get to a very startled mail carrier.
* October 2009 – Pal the Vizsla (Palm Beach, Fla.). When a tracking dog like Pal catches a scent, look out. This excited pooch darted in front of a moving golf cart and had a leg run over in the collision.
* November 2009 – Roscoe the standard poodle (Great Falls, Mont.). Ninety-three pounds of poodle is a lot of dog to keep an eye on. When no one was looking, Roscoe ate two baby bottles and a wet diaper.
* January 2010 – Phoenix the Labrador retriever (Menlo Park, Calif.). A game of fetch resulted in a pierced tongue when Phoenix ran mouth-first into the pointy end of a stick.
* February 2010 – Ranger the Westie/poodle mix (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.). Ranger’s no worse for wear, but he’s watching his step these days after planting a paw on, and being stung by, a Portuguese Man o’ War at the beach.
* March 2010 – Rock the Labrador retriever (Maplewood, Minn.). Rock’s owners didn’t think he’d be able to reach the box of instant breakfast powder mix on the kitchen counter. The 23 packages the retriever managed to swallow proved how resourceful this dog really is.
* April 2010 – Ellie the Labrador retriever (Santee, Calif.). If there’s any doubt that dogs will eat anything, look no further than Ellie who gobbled up an entire beehive and the thousands of inhabitants inside.
* May 2010 – Charlie the desert tortoise (Ramona, Calif.). Charlie’s been alive for fifty years, but his most eventful day came when he managed to scalp himself on his own shell.
* June 2010 – Darci the West Highland white terrier (Belleville, Ill.). Darci never feared anything – until the day she took a bite of a buzzing chainsaw.
“The purpose of the VPI Hambone Award is to remind pet owners of the unpredictable nature of pet injuries,” said Dr. McConnell, vice president and chief veterinary medical officer for VPI. “While not every pet will jump through a window, eat a beehive, or bite a chainsaw, our Hambone Award nominees illustrate that these things do happen and treating such injuries can be expensive.”
“Wag’N” Donates pet masks
Carol Monaco, with Marketwise Insights, Inc., recently nominated Greater Brighton Fire to receive pet oxygen masks through a company called Wag’N. Brighton Fire was selected and Wag’N has donated pet O2 masks through a program called “O2 Fur Life” that provides the necessary equipment for pet rescue breathing. Greater Brighton Fire is one of only 14 fire departments in the State who have received pet O2 masks through this program. Five kits were donated through the program, which provides for one set of three masks for each of our five fire stations. Each kit contains three masks of different sizes for various size pets. The kits have been placed on the fire engines and crews have been trained in using the masks. Thank you to Carol and Wag’N for the generous donation.
