Short answer: Last Saturday, we put on our first-ever Paws for WeCare walk in Alpena, Michigan — a Spire America Holdings event hosted together with our sister agency, Top O' Michigan Insurance Solutions. It raised $300 for local animal shelters and rescues in its first year, and it's exactly the kind of grassroots community support that the pet-care businesses we insure depend on every day.

A First-Year Event, a Real Community Win

Paws for WeCare brought dog owners, local vendors, and animal-welfare advocates together for a walk along Alpena's waterfront, capped off with a marketplace of local pet-specific vendor booths. Our two agencies put it on together as a Spire America Holdings event, with Northland Area Federal Credit Union stepping up as main sponsor. By the end of the day, registrations, raffle tickets, and donations added up to $300 raised for local shelters and Top O' Michigan's WeCare charitable program.

It's a modest number for a first year — and that's the point. Most of the organizations doing the hardest work for animals in a community start exactly this way: small, local, and built one walk, one bake sale, one raffle at a time.

Moose, and Why Shelters Need the Right Coverage

One of the dogs at the event was Moose, a one-eyed puppy who needed emergency surgery before 2nd Chance Animal Sanctuary took him in. Stories like his are common in animal rescue — and they're a good reminder of what's actually at stake for the shelters, sanctuaries, and rescues that take dogs like Moose in.

An animal in a shelter's or rescue's care isn't just a compassion story — it's also a liability exposure. If a dog is injured, becomes sick, or needs emergency veterinary care while in an organization's custody, standard general liability policies often don't cover it. That's what care, custody, and control (bailee) coverage is built for: it protects a pet-care business or nonprofit when something happens to an animal that isn't legally theirs but is, for the moment, their responsibility.

It's the kind of gap we see often in our work insuring boarding facilities, groomers, trainers, shelters, and rescues across the pet-care industry — and it's exactly why we built a free pet services cost estimator to help these organizations get a fast, realistic read on what proper coverage costs.

Community Support Is Part of the Business

We don't insure pet-care businesses because it's a niche — we insure them because we believe the people running boarding facilities, grooming shops, rescues, and sanctuaries are doing work that matters, often on thin margins and thinner staffing. Events like Paws for WeCare, put on by our own agencies rather than outsourced to a cause-marketing campaign, are a good reminder of what that support looks like in practice.

Proud of both teams — Spire and Top O' Michigan — for a strong first year. We're looking forward to seeing Paws for WeCare grow.

If you run a boarding facility, grooming business, rescue, sanctuary, or any other pet-care operation and want to make sure your coverage actually matches your exposure, talk to a specialized Spire broker or run the numbers with our pet services cost estimator.

This post is for general informational purposes and does not constitute insurance, legal, or veterinary advice. Coverage details, exclusions, and availability vary by state and carrier — talk to a licensed Spire broker to review your specific situation.