Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) announces the most unusual insurance claim submitted in May involving a 10-pound dachshund and a seagull. The claim was chosen by company employees and will be submitted for the 2011 VPI Hambone Award. newsline The most unusual insurance claim in May involved a 10-pound dachshund named Harley and a seagull, Veterinary Pet Insurance announced. The claim was chosen by company employees and will be submitted for the 2011 VPI Hambone Award. Each month, VPI employees nominate the most interesting claim submitted. In September VPI will ask the public to vote for the most unusual claim of the year. The Hambone Award is named for a VPI-insured dog that got stuck in a refrigerator and ate an entire ham while waiting for someone to find him. The dog was found with a licked-clean ham bone and a mild case of hypothermia. The most unusual insurance claim in May involved a 10-pound dachshund named Harley and a seagull, according to Veterinary Pet Insurance. May's unusual insurance claim winner, Robin Baer of Ventura, Calif. says despite living near the beach, she never expected a seagull to pose a threat to her dachshund. “Harley loves to eat his treats on the patio but we’ve never had a problem with seagulls before,” Baer says. “The two got into a fight over food. I could tell Harley was injured. He had blood on his nose and some hair missing from around his neck, but he seemed completely unfazed.” Uncertain about how severe the wounds were, Baer rushed Harley to her veterinarian’s office for an emergency visit. The dachshund had a cut below his eye and a wound on his neck, where Baer says the seagull tried to pick him up. After some clean-up and a couple of stitches from the veterinarian, Harley was able to go home. Baer’s claim for Harley’s seagull attack was one of more than 80,000 claims received in the month of May by VPI. Honorable mentions in May included a West Highland terrier that ate a large amount of sand at the beach, a beagle mix that was stung by a stingray, a Labrador that got a blade of grass stuck in his tonsil, an Airedale terrier that ran full-speed into a wheelbarrow and a pug that ate a dirty diaper. All pets considered for the award made full recoveries. Visit VPIHamboneAward.com for 2011 Hambone nominees and stories. <Home>
