At Pet Partners, we believe that therapy animals can improve human health and well-being. We are committed to supporting inclusion of this intervention, when upheld to its highest standards, in as many environments as possible.
Pet Partners handlers receive insurance that covers therapy animal visits conducted on a volunteer basis. We recognize that many scholar-practitioners who utilize therapy animals in their professional practice struggle in securing liability insurance for paid-for services that are inclusive of animal-assisted interventions.
In 2019, Pet Partners invested in some initial surveying on Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI) professionals to determine the state of liability insurance as it is currently being offered across various fields in which therapy animals are commonly incorporated. The results of these exploratory efforts were astounding, indicating severe gaps in services in terms of insuring AAI work.
Here are some of the data that was collected:
Pet Partners remains steadfast in our desire to make adequate professional liability insurance more accessible to those who aim to incorporate the healing power of pets into their work. Throughout the 2020 year, we will be conducting an in-depth investigation on AAI insurance policies so that we may better understand the state of this field.
We are seeking to collect as many sample policies as possible to review and compare. We are not requesting information on actual claims, as we are focusing on understanding the policy language and details of coverage. If you have a policy that you would be comfortable sharing with us, or if you have contacts who might share such policies, please contact us.
Finally, if you are passionate about this topic and would be interested in serving on a Professional Development Steering Committee working group focused on providing insurance to AAI professionals, please contact us.
We look forward to a day in which all professionals have a clear path to follow in incorporating therapy animals as a meaningful part of their vocation. To stay up to date on developments that Pet Partners is making in this space, sign up to receive our All for Professionals newsletter.