"I have bid farewell to grandparents, neighbors, and classmates, but I did not cry for them like I did for my Hound. He was my first dog, the great canine love of my life."

The above quote made my drive home from work on Sept. 20 a tearful trip.  Annmarie Kelly-Harbaugh's, "Hounded by grief over a canine companion," on NPR's All Things Considered was an article that reached me on a deep emotional level.  Similarly, almost three years ago, within a matter of months, I lost both my beloved 86-year-old grandmother and my "fur baby," also known as Sheba, a 16-year-old cat I parented for 8 years. When my grandmother passed away after a long illness, I was very stoic, but when Sheba died a few months later, I was an emotional wreck. 

Voluntary benefits are a vital part of an employee's benefits package—employers can use them to attract and retain talent while still controlling costs. But I'm shocked more employers aren't offering pet insurance as a voluntary benefit. In fact, although the number of companies offering pet insurance is growing in popularity, a recent article for Workforce.com reports only about 25 percent of Fortune 500 employers offer this voluntary benefit.