A broken pelvis and a $10K vet bill: How this Utah family is navigating the gray areas of insurance coverage

A crushed pelvis.
That was the diagnosis for Mike and Whitney Weiss’ beloved 3-year-old mixed-breed dog, Stella, after she was run over by a car on the family’s Oakley, Summit County, property last month. The treatment for the dog included orthopedic surgery to re-pin her pelvis together. The Weisses have spent roughly $10K in veterinary bills for Stella, whose recovery has a timeline of roughly eight weeks, according to the family.
The incident has led the Weisses on a confusing back and forth process with insurance representatives with the question at the center of it all being: With pets being classified as personal property under Utah law, who should foot the bill for Stella’s care?
With the Weisses living in a relatively rural area in Utah, wildlife roaming around their property is quite common. To prevent Stella from chasing animals that venture into their yard, the Weisses regularly leash the dog on a 50-foot lead line so that she can enjoy roaming the property while still being contained.
On Aug. 12, Mike placed the lead on Stella to enjoy the outdoors with their other dog while he finished some work inside the house, “as I’ve done a million times,” he told the Deseret News in an interview. Shortly after, the couple’s friend who lives in a separate dwelling on their property brought Stella to Mike, saying the dog may have been hit by a large truck that was in the process of parking in their driveway. The driver was a friend of a friend and someone Mike and Whitney hadn’t met before. He was on the property that day to do some work on their tenant’s house.
“He had run over her lead line and she had nowhere to go except under his rear tires,” the Weisses said.
After a visit to an emergency vet clinic in Salt Lake City to determine the extent of Stella’s injuries, the Weisses took their dog to Bark City Veterinary Specialists in Park City to receive orthopedic surgery for her pelvis and hip. Bark City was able to schedule Stella’s surgery for the following day after her injury.
Roughly one to two days after the accident and after Stella’s initial surgery, Mike reached out to the auto insurer of the driver who the family says struck their dog.
Mike said the claims adjuster they initially spoke with told them that Stella’s expenses would be covered. “I started tearing up and she did too,” he said of the claims adjuster, adding that the good news was “a really sweet moment” amid the stressful ordeal.
The Weisses say they were instructed by the insurance company to send in all relevant bills and any upcoming cost estimates, because there was a possibility of a second surgery being needed to adjust a screw that had moved slightly in Stella’s hip. They were also asked for additional photos of their property and Stella’s leash, along with labels for where the dog and the car were at the time of the accident.
But about two weeks later, the Weisses received a call from a different representative — and it wasn’t good news.
Mike told the Deseret News that this representative said the insurance company would not be covering any of Stella’s veterinary costs. Mike said the representative told him they determined that their driver was not liable for hitting Stella on the Weisses’ property. The reason? That 50-foot lead line that Stella was leashed on; “because the lead allowed Stella, on our property, to cross where cars can go in our driveway,” Mike said.
The driver, according to Mike, admitted to him that he simply didn’t see Stella and he apologized for hitting her. According to the Weisses, they have consulted professionals regarding their claim, all of whom have advised them that despite the leash, Stella’s costs should be covered under the driver’s auto insurance policy.
During a conversation with their own insurance provider, Whitney said, it was explained to them that, generally, “personal auto policy includes coverage for bodily injury and property damage liability. These are the primary coverages required by the state of Utah. Your dog is considered your private property.”
“Our dog was purposefully leashed so that she was going to be solely on her property and not in danger’s way,” Mike said.
After some back and forth, the driver’s auto insurance company offered to give them about $1,000 for follow-up vet visits after Stella’s surgery, but Mike did not accept the offer, as this would officially close the claim. He said he plans to fight the decision, as they had already spent roughly ten times that amount on Stella’s care, and it’s money they can’t get back.
The stress of having to carry their sedated dog to the lawn to use the bathroom and being forced to keep her in a confined kennel “has been exacerbated by the financial position we are now in,” according to Whitney. And the Weisses’ financial predicament is not entirely uncommon. “Americans spent an estimated $38 billion on health care and related services for companion animals in 2023,” The Atlantic reported.
The couple, who work in mental health care, say the time commitment for Stella’s care has taken a toll on both their personal and professional lives. “I work for myself. Whitney works for herself, and one of us has had to be home with the dog 24 hours a day for the last month, and it’s been so incredibly difficult and stressful,” Mike said.
Prior to the accident, Stella also regularly accompanied her owners to sessions, and her absence has been felt by everyone. “Our clients have become attached to her,” Whitney told the Deseret News, explaining that Stella is part of their work team. “It’s been really hard on people.”
Mike and Whitney have taken to social media to “urge” the insurance company “to do the right thing,” as well as launched a GoFundMe campaign to seek assistance in covering the cost of Stella’s surgery and recovery. “In doing so, we have heard numerous stories of people having to make very difficult and heartbreaking decisions about their pet’s care based on insurance companies’ unwillingness to honor their policies,” they said.
“Generally, whether a dog is covered by the driver’s insurance would depend on what part of the property the dog is on,” Steve Gooch, a public information officer at the Utah Insurance Department, told the Deseret News.
Gooch does not know the specifics of the Weisses’ claim, but was able to provide general information. “If the dog is in the driveway, it may not be covered because a driveway is where you would expect a car to be — not a dog. But if the dog was in the yard, the inverse would likely be true. There are also city and county codes, such as leash laws, that may impact who is at fault for the incident.”
The Utah Insurance Department represents the Beehive State as part of a national insurance regulation system “designed to protect policyholders and to serve the greater public interest through the effective regulation of the U.S. insurance marketplace,” according to its site.
Ultimately, Gooch said, the Weisses have the option to file a complaint with his office to prompt an investigation into the insurance company’s handling of their claim, or they can take the driver to small claims court, where a judge would determine who is at fault.
The insurance company’s public relations contact did not respond to Deseret News’ inquiries into Stella and the family’s insurance claim.
Had the Weisses known that the costs associated with Stella’s treatment and recovery would not be covered, they said, “we would have made very different decisions based on Stella’s care.” Thankfully, Stella is seemingly on the mend. In mid-September, she had her four-week checkup and it appears the surgery went well.
Could the Weisses have used pet insurance to cover the costs of Stella’s injuries? When the Weisses initially took Stella in to see the surgeon, they were asked if they had pet insurance for the dog. They didn’t, unfortunately, and it’s not an option to retroactively sign up.
“It hadn’t been on either of our minds, it’s not really spoken about a lot,” Mike said. “Just like we have health insurance, accidents happen. So I think about it differently than I did before.”
A fairly unknown and newer concept, pet insurance is becoming increasingly more common every year throughout the United States. According to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, just under 5.7 million U.S. dogs and cats were insured in 2023, a significant increase from 2020 when just over 3 million pets were insured.
There are three main types of pet heath insurance options:
The accident and illness and accident-only plans are the most common, as “1 in 3 pets need emergency veterinary treatment every year and a pet receives emergency care every 2.5 seconds in the U.S.,” according to Forbes.
A Forbes analysis on pet insurance showed that every six seconds, a pet owner faces a vet bill of $1,000 or more and that on average, insurance coverage costs roughly $612 per year for dogs and $324 per year for cats.
Many owners are deciding the monthly premiums for pet insurance are worth it, even if only for peace of mind where their furry friend — and their wallet — are concerned.