A few things: * Service animals aren't just dogs. Miniature horses, pigs, cats, whatever. Don't forget Emotional Support Animals. (Why are those important?

A few things: * Service animals aren't just dogs. Miniature horses, pigs, cats, whatever. Don't forget Emotional Support Animals. (Why are those important? Because they enable people with special needs / mental illness to function in "normal" situations.) * Uber drivers don't want animals in their personal cars, got it. But it's a choice to be an Uber driver, not a choice to be disabled or need an emotional support animal. When we think about this, we should think about who has the choice here. There's an easy fix. Default every Uber drive to accept all animals. Allow the Uber drivers to opt out, and in so doing lower their rank in search and have a badge next to their name, "Restrictions Apply" or something along those lines. Let their customers choose if they want to give money to people who are discriminatory. People with the disabilities shouldn't be forced to check a box or ask for special assistance, that's why you would default all drivers to accept pets and explain why it's important. Being able to provide a service to all users is important, but for fringe groups there isn't always an economic drive to do so. Like providing a seat belt, training with how to handle service animals should be mandatory. (The one driver put a service dog in the trunk?! Please tell me he isn't working at Uber any more.) Personal note: Ever tried to take a kid who has special needs to see the Grand Canyon? What started out as a dream trip was soured by people in hotels making a huge stink about Emotional Support Dogs, and reminding us at every turn that we had a special needs kid with us. People could have been kind, they could have pulled us aside, or read the notes from their boss that we were coming... but every time we hit a new hotel people would inevitably yell at my cousin, who has DS, because he would bring his dog with him to the lobby or near the pool, or even on a trail. "No pets allowed!" Even though we called ahead, the staff on the ground wasn't trained to deal with service animals. Without his dog, the world was a scary place form my cousin; Emotional Support Dogs are like hearing aids or canes or a pair of glasses that way. Anyway if you see someone who has a dog in a place you wouldn't normally expect to see a dog, please assume they have a good reason for it. You don't know how much damage you can do with one comment, or one harsh tone. We're all just trying to get through the day as best we can.