If you’re an animal lover like me, you probably can’t imagine living without pets.

After all, there’s nothing quite as endearing as that perky little puppy who greets you at the door at the end of the day, tail wagging, or that sweet little kitten who wraps himself around your shoulders while you’re watching TV at night.

But there’s risk inherent in owning animals, too. Whether you live in the city and enjoy dogs and cats or reside in the country and raise cows, pigs, goats or some other type of farm animal, you’re responsible for your animal’s behavior.

So if they get out of their pen and injure someone or damage someone’s property, you’re the one who’ll be paying the bills.

Your homeowners insurance covers what’s referred to as “reasonable risk.” That means they’ll generally pick up the tab if there’s not excessive danger of your animal repeatedly causing irreparable harm to others.

If, however, statistics show that the type or breed of animal you own tends to be on the dangerous side, you’ll pay more to insure yourself against possible insurance claims—whether the animals are domesticated or on the wild side.

What if someone else’s animal injures you? The same rules apply: either that person’s own insurance policy will pay for the damages or they’ll be held responsible to cover that cost themselves. This is known as liability in insurance terms.

Sometimes weird situations happen involving animals. But if you’ve got the right insurance coverage, you should be prepared, no matter how strange or unusual the circumstances.

If you’ll be having company around your animals this holiday season, you’d best think ahead and possibly even imagine the worst. Then talk to your insurance agent about covering your animals with your home insurance policy. Add a rider, or extra insurance protection, if necessary. But make sure everyone stays safe around your animals while you’re celebrating this year.