Brossard man says his insurance policy was cancelled due to owning a pit bull

A Brossard man had his home insurance policy cancelled after his carrier found out he owns a pit bull.

Adam Misztal had owned his pit bull, Miller, for four years. In that time, he’s trained the dog and taken him to obedience classes.

Brossard is voting next month on a bylaw that would require pit bull owners have $250,000 worth of liability insurance.

When Misztal called his insurance company to see if he was covered, he was told the company had a no pit bull policy and his policy with them would be cancelled within 18 days.

“Owning a pet is not a privilege,” said Misztal. “It’s more of a responsibility and we do take our responsibility seriously.”

Misztal is currently seeking a new insurance carrier.

“I asked them, ‘Do you insure homeowners who own pit bulls?’” he said. “Four out of five, the first four said no.”

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, each company is permitted to come up with their own policies and generally base them on the risk associated with specific breeds.

“Some will cover the owner in terms of civil liability,” said spokesperson Pierre Babinsky. “Some will decide not to cover at all. Some will decide they will cover the home, they will cover civil liability, but they will exclude any civil liability relating to the dog itself.”

Since an attack involving a pit bull left a woman dead last week, municipalities across the province, including Quebec City, have begun considering bans on the breed and on Thursday, Premier Philippe Couillard said he would look into a province-wide ban.

“We’ve dealt with this species and what about the other species that you know, three months later could also be aggressive,” said Couillard. “Let’s have a comprehensive approach and be thoughtful of how we put this forward.”