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Missing shepherds win Nationwide pet insurance award

Posted On: Oct. 17, 2018 10:16 AM CST

Missing shepherds win Nationwide pet insurance award

German shepherds Ziva and Zeus went missing for 21 days and were found frolicking inside an abandoned missile silo, earning the Medical Lake, Washington, pooches the 10th annual Hambone Award, which honors the most unusual pet insurance claim of the year.

Pet insurer Nationwide Insurance Co. on Tuesday announced its 12 nominees for 2018. The award itself was named in honor of a Nationwide-insured dog who got stuck in a refrigerator and ate an entire Thanksgiving ham while waiting for someone to rescue him, according to a statement.

Other top contenders for the 2018 award included Blitzen, a dachshund from Carle Place, New York, who went on a “foodie” adventure, chewing a hole through the kitchen wall; Dottie, an Irish setter from Irwin, Pennsylvania, who had an electrifying fall into a heated pond that shocked both her and her owner; and Cheddar, a Labrador mix from Fairfield, Connecticut, who ended up under a falling chandelier “when a birthday brunch got smoky,” according to the list.

“The Hambone Award draws attention to accidents that can occur to our pets at any time,” said Carol McConnell, chief veterinary officer for Nationwide, in the statement. “The improbable adventure of Ziva and Zeus exemplifies the purpose of the Hambone Award and highlights the incredible work veterinary staff do to save our four-legged family members. We are delighted with Ziva and Zeus’s recovery and honored to present them with the 2018 Hambone Award.” 

The nominees were chosen from more than 1.5 million claims received by Nationwide during the past year, according to the statement.