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Don't let bureaucracy make animal visits extinct

By HOWARD TROXLER
Published April 16, 2006

For the past 21 years, a Pinellas volunteer group called Project PUP has been providing pet visits to area nursing homes, senior centers and assisted living facilities.

PUP stands for "Pets Uplifting People." The group is a nonprofit charity. Most of the visiting pets are dogs, but there are a few friendly cats, and now and then a rabbit or even a ferret.

"Mostly, it's just petting," says Betty Luttier of Seminole, president of the group's foundation. "Sometimes people will take a comb and brush the animal, if the pet likes it.

"Sometimes, if people are gathered in an activities room, they'll throw a little toy around."

Such visits go on across the country. There's research that shows interaction with pets is good for seniors. The pets like the attention. The seniors get the joy of pet companionship without the hassle.

Both the human volunteers and the visitor-pets are screened. There are rules and procedures. In 20 years and tens of thousands of visits, no claim for injury has ever been made against Project PUP.

Do you sense a big, fat, "but" coming?

Sure you do.

On April 3, Project PUP suspended its operations via a letter to its 250 volunteers. The reason: insurance problems.

Project PUP had been operating as a volunteer group under the Pinellas County Extension Service, which is a partnership of the University of Florida and the county government.

The members considered themselves university volunteers and thought they were covered, but the question came up last year so they sought clarification.

This January, the university folks sent a letter to the county saying: They aren't covered by us.

A few weeks later, the county extension folks informed Project PUP that the current situation couldn't continue.

"What they are doing is a wonderful, wonderful volunteer program," Mary Campbell, the county extension director, told me. "We appreciate all the hard work that the volunteers in this county do."

But there are rules. County volunteers have workers' comp protection, but they also need outside liability coverage. The prescribed amount is $1-million. County volunteers also must undergo an orientation program, background checks and fingerprinting.

Since March, Project PUP has sought quotes on an outside insurance policy. It is fair to say this has not been easy.

Instead, most of the reaction from insurance agents has been: You want to take WHAT into WHERE? Don't you see those full-page ads in the Yellow Pages from lawyers who sue nursing homes?

I wish I could point the Simple-Answer Finger at the university or county, but in today's world their decision is understandable. The alternative is to put the taxpayers on the hook for insuring hundreds of volunteers and thousands of pet visits, any one of which could result in Lawsuit Bingo.

There still might be a solution for Project PUP, but it won't be easy for the volunteers. There are national pet visit associations that offer insurance coverage to their members, which might meet the county's requirements. Of course, this would cost the volunteers both their own money and the time involved to comply with all the rules. No good deed goes unpunished.

What can I say? I hope the county bends over backward to work with Project PUP and finds a way to keep it going. In the meantime, if anybody in the private insurance sector thinks he or she can help, feel free to call Betty Luttier. Her number is (727) 595-4038.

[Last modified April 16, 2006, 00:42:15]