Insurance company tells woman dog is 'totaled'

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Marcia Pinkstaff says an insurance company totalled her dog Sasha (Image courtesy KMGH)

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DENVER, Colorado (WTVD) -- It's not unusual for a driver involved in a serious accident to be told by an insurance company that their vehicle is "totaled." That's insurance industry jargon meaning the cost to repair the vehicle exceeds the cost of replacing it.

But a woman in Colorado claims an insurance company totaled her dog after it was hit by a van.

Marcia Pinkstaff told ABC7 News in Denver that her 9-year-old lab mix Sasha was hit while walking with her in a crosswalk by a van making a left turn.

"She didn’t see us and she hit Sasha very, very hard," Pinkstaff said. "Sasha has tears in her lungs, a tear in her diaphragm and liver damage."

Pinkerstaff said the driver's insurance company told her they'd pay for one or two trips to the vet and then after that the dog would be considered totaled - meaning they wouldn't pay any more.

"I was horrified,” Pinkstaff said. "They said they were totaling out my dog. It broke my heart because she is like a child to me."