Let's talk about animals. So the first thing is let's discuss the difference
between an emotional support animal and a service animal. An emotional support
animal is granted by a doctors note. Literally any doctor. The pet requires no
special training and the doctor often doesn't even meet the animal. They simply
write something up that says this person should have an emotional support animal.
This is usually for people with anxiety, depression, autism. Emotional support
animals are protected under two instances. The first is airplanes.
Emotional support animals are able to travel without additional cost in the
cabin of the plane. There have been instances where there have been
limitations put on what type of animal can be an emotional support animals such
as when someone tried to bring their emotional support peacock on an airplane.
But usually emotional support animals are dogs. The second instance is rental
properties. If a rental property doesn't allow pets but someone is approved
for an emotional support animal, they cannot deny them that request. They're
also not legally allowed to charge a pet deposit. Now service animals are a bit
different. Service animals are highly trained working dogs and they are
trained to complete specific tasks. Some examples are opening doors, protecting
their person in the case of a seizure, warning about low blood sugar, and many
many other things that are tailored specific to that person and their
disability. Service animals are usually for physical disabilities but they could
also be for things like PTSD. Remember that not all disabilities are visible so
just because someone looks young or they don't look like they're disabled doesn't
mean that they don't have a disability. There are only two questions that you're
legally allowed to ask someone who has a service animal. One: Is the service animal
required for a disability? And two: What work or tasks does the service animal
perform? Service animals are protected for housing and planes but they are also
protected for any public space. They can go into grocery stores and other places
that pets aren't usually allowed including Uber and Lyft. You're not
legally allowed to ask someone about their disability nor are you allowed to
ask them to prove that the service animal is a service animal. Legally you
cannot deny someone a ride because they have a service animal with them. It
doesn't matter if you have an allergy or you want your car super pristine, you
cannot deny them as that is a form of discrimination against their disability.
Denying someone for this reason could result in legal prosecution on a federal
level and it will result in deactivation from Uber or Lyft if they are informed by
the passenger. Some drivers will do what's called a drive-by.
This is when they look at and judge the passenger on their way by and decide
whether or not they're willing to pick them up. This happens to people with
disabilities quite often and it is definitely a form of discrimination and
will get you canceled. Now when it comes to emotional support animals and pets,
you are legally allowed to deny whatever you want. If someone doesn't have an
immediate response to what tasks the service animal is able to do, they
probably don't have a service animal. Denying them a request could still be
risky if it was actually a service animal or if they go to Uber and Lyft and
say it was a service animal, but I think for the most part they're not gonna take
it that extra step. If you were a passenger who wants to bring your pet in
an Uber or Lyft just make sure to ask your driver first. I've had this happen
where someone will call me up or they'll send me a text and say "hey I have my dog
it's fairly small is that okay?" Now whether or not drivers can have their
service animals or pets it's a bit more complicated and Uber and Lyft don't have
any publicly stated policies on it. Drivers definitely do take their service
animals and you may have seen some drivers who take a rescue animal with
them to brighten the passenger's day. There's nothing in the terms and
conditions that says they can't so drivers are allowed to bring pets.
However you do still need to have four available seats. If you have a larger pet
you're going to need to have a larger car in order to accommodate them. It's
not the best idea to do this because pets do come with dander and not
everyone likes pets, but there's nothing preventing you from bringing your pet or
your emotional support animal with you and there's certainly nothing preventing
you from bringing your service animal. But again, you will need to accommodate
the space. Keep in mind that you may have some passengers with allergies so if you
do have a pet with you I would recommend sending them a text letting them know
that you have a pet before you go pick them up so then that time isn't wasted
for you or them if they decide to cancel. As always I hope this video has been
helpful. I may consider doing some additional live streaming. If you'd like
to support me in other ways, I do always have my patreon account as well as my
website where I'm selling a board game. At some point I'll get around to making
a video about that board game. And stay tuned because later this weekend I will
be posting another video that's pretty special.
And my last thing is thank you all for being here! I just hit 10,000 subscribers
and I'm so grateful. If any of you are new to this channel feel free to
subscribe. It just, you know, helps me out and then you get a little notification
that tells you when I've uploaded something or when I'm going live, which I
may do every now and then. As always drive safe and have a lovely day.