I’m an animal lover. Full stop. So when a groomer, kennel owner, or a mobile dog walker calls me, this one hits different. You’re not just running a business — you’re the person a family trusts with a member of their family. That’s a big deal. And it deserves coverage built for exactly that.
Here’s the truth I run into all the time: a lot of pet businesses think they’re covered because they bought a general liability policy, but they’re not fully covered. Not for the thing that matters most. Let me walk you through what a business that handles animals actually needs, and where the biggest gap hides. (Want the program view all in one place? Our pet business insurance page breaks down everything we offer.)
General liability is your foundation — but it’s just the start
General liability is where most coverage starts. A client slips on your wet lobby floor. A boarded dog gets loose and bites a visitor. A customer gets cut on the fence picking up their dog. Property damage, bodily injury to people, the everyday stuff that happens when the public and animals share a space — that’s general liability doing its job.
It’s essential. It just isn’t the whole picture. And here’s the part that catches people.
The gotcha nobody warns you about: care, custody & control
This is the one I want you to hear. Standard general liability has a care, custody, and control exclusion. In plain English: your GL policy does not cover injury, illness, or death of an animal that’s in your care.
Read that again. The boarded dog that gets hurt overnight. The cat that gets sick in your kennel. The dog that slips off a grooming table. Those are the animals you’re being paid to look after — and a standard GL policy treats them as your responsibility to keep safe, not as a covered claim. When something happens to an animal in your custody, that is not a general liability claim.
So what answers for it? Animal bailee coverage.
Animal bailee: the specialty piece built for the animals in your care
Animal bailee coverage is the specialty piece designed for exactly this — the animals in your care, custody, and control. If a pet in your custody is injured, becomes ill, dies, or goes missing while you’re responsible for it, this is the coverage meant to respond.
If you board, groom, daycare, train, transport, or pet-sit, this isn’t optional in my book. It’s the core of the whole thing. My recommendation: don’t assume it’s baked into your policy. Confirm it’s actually carried. I’ve seen too many businesses find out it wasn’t there at the worst possible moment.
Professional liability — because your expertise carries risk
If you give advice or perform a service, your judgment can be questioned. A veterinary practice needs professional liability (veterinary malpractice) for the medical side. A groomer can face a claim over an accidental nick or a clipper injury. A trainer can be blamed when their advice doesn’t go the way an owner hoped. Professional liability is built for allegations tied to your professional service — separate from the slip-and-fall world of general liability.
Workers’ comp for the people doing the handling
Animal handling is physical, and it bites back — literally. Bites, scratches, a strained back from lifting a ninety-pound retriever onto a table. If you have employees, workers’ compensation covers their work-related injuries, and in most states it’s legally required. This is also where employers’ liability lives, which responds to certain employee-injury lawsuits. If you’ve got handlers, you need this conversation.
Your building, your kennels, your equipment
Commercial property covers the physical stuff — the building, the kennel runs, the grooming tables, the cages, the medical or bathing equipment. A lot of small pet businesses package this together with liability in a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP), which bundles property and general liability into one policy. Whether a BOP is the right fit depends on how your business is set up — that’s a quick conversation we can have.
Mobile groomers and pet-transport vans
If you drive for the business, your personal auto policy likely won’t cover a loss on the job. Mobile groomers and pet-transport operations need commercial auto. And here’s a detail I always confirm: hired and non-owned auto coverage, for when an employee runs an errand in their own car or you rent a van. Owned, hired, and non-owned — I want to make sure all three are addressed, not assumed.
When the doors have to close
Here’s one people rarely think about until it’s too late. Say a kennel-cough-type outbreak forces you to shut down and clear the facility for a stretch. The income stops, but the bills don’t. Business interruption coverage is designed to help replace lost income when a covered event forces a closure. For a facility full of animals, that’s a real scenario worth planning for.
A quick FAQ
Doesn’t my general liability already cover the pets I board? No — and this is the most important thing on this page. GL’s care, custody, and control exclusion means it doesn’t cover injury, illness, or death of an animal you’re responsible for. Animal bailee coverage is what’s built for that. Don’t assume it’s included; let’s confirm it.
I run everything solo from my home and my van. Do I really need all this? Maybe not all of it — but probably more than you think. Even a solo pet sitter has animals in their care and drives for work. We’ll look at your actual setup and talk through what fits, not sell you a stack you don’t need.
We’re an independent agency — what does that mean for me? It means we work for you, not one carrier. We shop the market on your behalf and build the coverage around how your business really runs.
Let’s make sure the animals in your care are actually protected
Tell us how your pet business runs — we’ll review your coverage line by line and make sure the animals in your care are actually protected. As an independent agency, we work for you, not one carrier. See the full program on our pet business insurance page.
Call (850) 389-2001 or visit barbeejackson.com. Your Goals, Our Strategies.
Barbee Jackson Insurance — independent agency, licensed in 30+ states, based in Crestview, FL. 400+ five-star Google reviews.