Company Case 5 acquired by Nationwide, marking the first effort by large insar- ance companies to get into the business. VPI's mission is to make the miracles of veterinary medicine affordable to all pet Veterinary Pet Insurance: owners VPI was founded in 1980 by veterinarian Jack Stephens, He never intended to leave his practice, but his life took a dramatic turn when he visited a local grocery store and was identified by a client's daughter as "the man who killed Buffy." Stephens had euthanized the family dog two weeks earlier. He immediately began researching the possibility of creating medical pet insur- ance. "There is nothing more frustrating for a veterinarian than knowing that you can heal a sick patient, but the owner lacks the financial resources and instructs you to put the pet down." says Health Insurance for Our ryr denuified by or Feathery-Friends Health insurance for pets? Until recently, MetL.ife, Prudential, began researching the possibility of creating Northwestern Mutual, and most other large insurance com a panies haven't paid much attention to it. Instead, they've left knowing that you can heal a sick patient, the small piece of the insurance industry niche companies. The largest of these peddlers of pet insurance Stephens. "I wanted to change that." (there are now 12 of them) is Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI And the business has become so lucrative that V to it. Instead, they've left pie to more-focused Pet insurance is a still-small but fast-growing segment of the insurance business. Insiders think the industry offers huge PI was recently