While watching television last night I caught a commercial from Progressive Auto Insurance. I'm sure most of you have seen these commercials. They claim to save you hundreds on your insurance by showing you comparison's of different insurance companies. They even state they are not always the cheapest. But what I saw last night struck me as extremely absurd.

I know people love their pets. I have one and I guess I care about her. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her. She is apart of the family in a sense. I don't go overboard with my pet. I provide her food and shelter and medical care when needed and that is about as far as it goes. I don't buy her clothing. I don't buy the most expensive food for her. I don't take her shopping with me. And I am sure as hell not going to purchase auto insurance to cover her if she were injured in a car accident while traveling with me.

Progressive is now offering Pet Injury Coverage. WTF? Is this really necessary? From the website:

Pets are part of your family, which is why your Progressive collision coverage also protects your pet. If your pets are injured in an accident, we’ll pay up to $500 to help you with their veterinary bills and medicine. Currently, Pet Injury Coverage is offered in all states except NC, NH and NY.

Pet insurance is like health insurance for your pets: It pays for vet bills when your pet is sick or hurt. Pet Injury coverage from Progressive applies only to dogs or cats that are injured in an accident while riding with you in your vehicle.

With pet insurance, you pay the bill and are reimbursed by the pet insurance company. Many plans have deductibles, maximums and even coinsurance. Pet insurance does not necessarily cover all medical conditions for your pet, so make sure you get all the facts before you buy.

Pet Injury coverage is built into your Collision coverage on your Progressive policy. Your pet is covered for vet costs up to $500 when it's hurt in an accident.

I find this to be absolutely retarded. I can kind of understand if you have a pure bred dog that you spent an insane amount of money on but give me a break people. Are you aware that one in seven Americans don't have medical insurance? Why not work on that problem first and then talk about insuring pets.

Pets are first and foremost animals. Do they really need insurance? People humanize their pets way too much. I laugh every time I see someone walking their dog into a store wearing a shirt. Quite honestly if I owned a store I wouldn't allow it. There are places for pets and a store isn't one of them unless it is PetSmart. We as humans have lost our focus on what is really important it seems. We can't solve our homeless issues but yet we find it necessary to make sure our pets have insurance. People do truly amaze me.