‘Petsurance’ safety net for dog owners could be expanded
Hope for the future: Animal welfare organisations would like to see the scheme covering street dogs too (file pic)
In celebration of World Animal Day on October 4, the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) unveiled a brand-new pet insurance scheme to aid pet owners.
‘Petsurance’ is a comprehensive insurance programme designed to help pet owners secure their finances in the event that their animals require expensive medical care.
With the exception of congenital and pre-existing conditions, ‘Petsurance’ provides medical insurance coverage for accidental death, hospital expenses for accidents and both surgical procedures and non-surgical procedures to treat illnesses and third-party liability. It will cover up to a total of Rs. 550,000 annually.
With the help of this insurance, pet owners would be able to provide their animals with medical care without having to worry about incurring high expenses. Through this insurance scheme, the company hopes to give pet owners a safety net that will enable them to give their companion animals the best care possible.
A Randi Foundation event
Pet dogs will be the main focus of ‘Petsurance’s initial phase. Upon its success, it is anticipated to be expanded to include additional animals.
Chrishanti Perera, Founder President of the Randi Foundation that was largely instrumental in negotiating this scheme said that identifying the need for this novel concept is to change people’s perceptions of animals and create a cohesive social bridge that unites humans and animals.
She shared that the idea evolved after receiving numerous inquiries from pet owners who were experiencing difficulties when it came to bearing the financial cost of caring for their animals.
Pets are an integral part of the human family and their wellbeing is also paramount to all their owners – this scheme can give buyers peace of mind that they are in a position to afford all the veterinary care that their pet may need.
As ‘Petsurance’ is only a beginning for pet owners, and that too only for dogs. SLIC says they hope to extend the scheme to include coverage for other domestic pets as well in the future, adding there has been considerable demand for the scheme since its launch in October, including from new segments such as organisations working in the interests of animal welfare, pet clubs and more. Due to the growing interest, they are currently making alterations to the product to reflect the new and varying needs.
Iromi Salgado of the Animal Welfare Protection Association (AWPA), one of the oldest such organisations working in Sri Lanka said that the current scheme is a positive step forward for dog owners who need assistance with mounting veterinary expenses.
However, in the case of street animals, Iromi points out that the AWPA deals with hundreds of dogs in need. “The insurance scheme doesn’t cover us but if it’s possible in the future it will be very welcome. We have huge vet bills for rescues alone as we get a large number of calls coming in requesting rescues for animals who have met with accidents here and there – if by any chance insurance will cover expenses like that it would be extremely beneficial to us in continuing our work.”
Pet owners can now report any animal abuse by calling 119. According to Chrishanti, the idea was born as a part of the Randi Foundation’s ‘Blue Cross Code’ – a social responsibility concept to motivate people to work together in the interests of animal welfare and maintain vigilance to prevent the abuse of animals.
The Foundation also introduced the ‘Vet Mobile’ app on World Veterinary Day in 2021 which functions as a channeling app for users to consult with veterinarians.
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