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Insurance Company Drops Pit Bull Coverage For California Owners

SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) -- It's a breed ban for the much-maligned pit bull, as a major insurance company has dropped coverage for the the dog's owners.

"They've made an assumption about me and my household that isn't fair. It's not just," pit bull owner Dawn Clapp said Monday.

Farmers Insurance is making a change for certain pet owners in California. Your pit bull, Rottweiler, or wolf hybrid will no longer be covered under your homeowner insurance policy – meaning, if they bite someone in your home, you're out of luck.

The change isn't sitting well with some.

"So do you look at the individual dog or do you just paint them all with a big brush and say, 'You look like the same breed so we're not going to cover you?'" Dawn wondered.

CBS13 reached two Sacramento-area Farmers Insurance agents who confirmed the change but didn't give a reason for it, pointing out they're not the first insurance company to say no to pit bulls.

But Dawn says she wasn't given a heads-up from her agent, and even though she's already switched to another company, she fears other pit bull owners may give up on their pets instead of going through the hassle of changing carriers.

"And these dogs have done nothing wrong," she said. "They just happen to be born to look a certain way."

It's a look that some say has left the dogs out in the cold and responsible owners in a familiar position of trying to get people to see the light about their breed of choice.

However, a recent list put out by Forbes names pit bulls and Rottweilers as the two riskiest dogs to own when it comes to dog bites.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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