Despite Adoption Surge in 2020, Shelters Continue to Need Help for Operational, Medical and Pet Care Costs

MetLife Pet Insurance¹ announced today it has contributed $500,000 to its premier animal rescue shelter partners across the U.S. as part of its ongoing commitment that helps shelters with operational and care costs. Overall, animal rescue shelters have facilitated more than 2 million adoptions of dogs and cats² since last spring, sparking a need for additional resources.

“Animal shelters have always played an important role in our communities,” said Katie Blakeley, vice president and head of MetLife Pet Insurance. “This was never more true than during the pandemic when so many people welcomed new pets into their homes. Despite the surge in adoptions, overall giving to shelters was down. We are proud to offer our support to shelters, so they can continue their important work in their communities helping animals find their families.”

During the pandemic, many shelters had to change their adoption process to accommodate social distancing and virtual visits. The actions they took, including building new outdoor meet-and-greet areas and increasing digital capabilities, added unexpected operational costs to budgets intended to cover basic needs such as food, medicine, blankets, beds and toys for the animals. There are ongoing maintenance, facility and overhead costs that shelters face each year as well.

“Over the past 18 months, shelters, including our own, have seen unprecedented impact on our communities and the way we deploy our missions, including adoptions. The needs are great and so too are the costs of delivering our lifesaving programs,” said Michael Robbins, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Atlanta Humane Society. “The support that MetLife Pet Insurance gives to us and many shelters around the country allows us to continue our good work in the rescue, care and adoption of pets.”

As pets are adopted from shelters, caring for their health and well-being is important. MetLife Pet Insurance³ offers a range of features at highly competitive rates available to dogs and cats of all ages and breeds. These features include innovative benefits for pet parents including access to telehealth concierge services⁴, opportunity to roll over benefits from the prior year, family plans allowing multiple pets to be covered by a single policy, no wait periods for orthopedic conditions and grief counseling⁴.

MetLife’s pet insurance also features some of the shortest wait periods⁵ for accidents and illnesses⁶ and provides a hassle-free claims experience in which claims can be easily submitted and tracked via a mobile app. Pet parents have freedom to choose their preferred U.S. licensed veterinarian and can expect to engage with caring, passionate, and experienced pet advocates.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

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¹ MetLife Pet Insurance Solutions, LLC, a MetLife company

² Shelter Animals Count, Data Dashboards, 2020

³ Pet Insurance offered by MetLife Pet Insurance Solutions LLC is underwritten by Independence American Insurance Company (“IAIC”), a Delaware insurance company, headquartered at 485 Madison Avenue, NY, NY 10022, and Metropolitan General Insurance Company (“MetGen”), a Rhode Island insurance company, headquartered at 700 Quaker Lane, Warwick, RI 02886, in those states where MetGen’s policies are available. Application is subject to underwriting review and approval. Like most insurance policies, insurance policies issued

⁴ May not be available in all states.

⁵ Accident coverage is midnight EST as of the day of enrollment compared to wait time of 2 to 15 days for many competitors; Illness coverage begins 14 days from the day of enrollment compared to 14 to 30 days for many competitors, based on a January 2021 review of publicly available summary information about competitors' offerings. Competitors did not furnish copies of their policies for review. If you have questions about a particular competitor's policy or coverage, please contact them of their representative directly.

⁶ Accident coverage and Preventive Care coverage (for those who select it) begin on the effective date of your policy. Illness coverage begins 14 days later.

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