Taiwan launches exclusive insurance for high-risk working dogs, including medical and funeral expenses

The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) held a special press conference to announce the launch of full coverage for duty dogs to meet the public's expectation of guarding the "National Woof-woof Team".

As time goes by, dogs can now assist in more and more diverse tasks, from wildlife conservation to the well-known search and rescue and drug detection. In Taiwan, working dogs serving in government departments are named duty dogs. Their tasks include quarantine, drug detection, detection, security, riot control, search and rescue, military, etc. The work is heavy and dangerous, so pet insurance companies have always refused to deal with them. Fortunately, with the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture, there are property insurance companies willing to invest in public welfare services, and finally the exclusive insurance for duty dogs was born, and the compensation conditions are generous.

According to the 2024 inventory, there are 252 duty dogs in service in Taiwan, including 55 police dogs, 29 military dogs, 29 coast guard dogs, 37 drug-catching dogs, 44 quarantine dogs, and 54 search and rescue dogs assigned to the Fire Department and county and city fire departments. The most special are the four guard dogs in the National Palace Museum. However, the Ministry of Agriculture stated that by March 2025, the total number of duty dogs has reached 292.

Taiwan has established the "Regulations on the Care and Management of Duty Dogs in Government Departments" (hereinafter referred to as the Management Regulations), which stipulate that duty dogs may not work more than 40 hours per week, may not work continuously for more than 4 hours at a time, and must be provided with appropriate rest during duty. At the same time, the service period of duty dogs is stipulated to be 4 years, and they must undergo health examinations twice a year. The seemingly perfect system is still not comprehensive.

Whether they are quarantine dogs stationed at airports or police dogs accompanying police officers on duty, they are good companions to humans, and in their spare time, they look after their handlers as enthusiastically as pet dogs.

Firstly, each department has a budget for the care of duty dogs. Once a dog has an accident or a serious illness, a large amount of the budget may be consumed, often squeezing out the welfare of other dogs. In addition, duty dogs that bear high-pressure and high-risk tasks for a long time often develop various injuries and illnesses after retirement. Among them, degenerative arthritis or hip joint abnormalities are the most common among search and rescue dogs, making it difficult for adopters with limited financial resources to deal with.

However, under the pressure of the public and legislators calling on the government to treat service dogs well, the Ministry of Agriculture took the responsibility of negotiating with the insurance company and paying the full insurance premium for the first year, and worked with Nan Shan Property & Casualty Insurance Company to plan a special insurance policy for service dogs in just three months, thus making this wonderful thing happen.

Let's see how much care this policy with medical and funeral insurance can provide for a duty dog:

Project	Benefit amount explanation
Premium	NT$13,374 per head, fully paid by the government (Ministry of Agriculture)
Outpatient fees	Maximum reimbursement per time: NT$1,200, maximum 5 times per year, total reimbursement up to NT$6,000
Hospitalization expenses	Maximum per session: NT$5,000, no upper limit on number of sessions
Surgery costs	Maximum per transaction: 40,000 yuan
Funeral assistance	Up to NT$5,000
Self-deductible	Completely free of deductible, from outpatient (hospital) consultation to surgery and funeral, all are fully covered by insurance.
Exclusions	Explosion, heat, radiation or contamination caused by atomic or nuclear energy devices. ★The policy excludes common pet insurance exclusions such as "war and natural disasters", which is more in line with the nature of duty dogs.

The Ministry of Agriculture stated that it will allocate special funds this year to insure these duty dogs, and hopes that the departments they belong to, such as the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance, can compile their own insurance costs next year. The Minister of Agriculture also announced another good news, that is, retired duty dogs will also be included in the insurance coverage in the next stage to better care for these members known as the "National Paw Patrol."