New Phoenix ‘Uber Pet’ Keeps Animal Lovers And Pets Together

PHOENIX – Starting Oct. 16, Phoenix Uber riders don’t have to leave their furry friends at home when they go out on the town. Instead, with the company’s new Uber Pet app feature, riders can pay an Uber surcharge ­and bring their household pets along for the ride, techcrunch.com reported.

While Uber has previously and will continue to provide free service-animal ridealongs, the new Uber Pet accommodates riders who will be traveling with their furry household companions such as cats and dogs. But it doesn’t end there. People.com reported that Uber Pet accepts “all household pets,” to include fish in bags or bowls, caged birds, hamsters and turtles. Riders can even, if their driver agrees, bring more than one pet on their ride. To book an Uber Pet ride, customers just need to choose the Uber Pet option on the app. Riders bringing a service animal, however, don't need to use the Uber Pet feature when booking.

Uber drivers who aren’t animal lovers or who have pet allergies can choose not to do Uber Pet runs, but the company says its Uber Pet participating drivers will get “a significant portion of that surcharge, on top of their standard trip earnings.” Drivers who want to decline Uber Pet trips can simply indicate their choice on the Uber app’s driver preferences menu.

While Uber Pet is being piloted for now in the U.S. only in Phoenix and other cities such as Nashville, Denver, Austin, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and Minneapolis-St. Paul, it is not a new concept for the company. Uber has been offering Uber Pet in Singapore since 2017 and also offers it now in Brazil and Mexico.