Monday is National Dog Day, and Lyft took the opportunity to grab a feature that equates to one. There is Uber for about five years. When you’re going somewhere with a furry companion, Lyft’s new Pet Mode lets you choose to take your dog or cat with you, ensuring you’ll find a driver to accommodate them.
Like Uber Pet, Lyft’s Pet Mode charges extra — in this case, a $4 surcharge. The company says the payment goes directly to the driver.
A new Pet Mode could have come in handy a year ago The saga of Tux the catwas taken to the vet by the owner, Palash Pandey. A Lyft driver in Austin, Texas, was accused of speeding with Tux (inside the carrier) still in the back seat of the car, ignoring Pandey’s pleas as he banged on the window. The driver replied to Pandey’s in-app messages and claimed that the cat was not there.
Days passed as Pandey made desperate calls and viral posts to the Austin Police Department Reddit and X (Twitter). Eventually, media outlets picked up the story and Lyft’s PR team went into crisis mode. CEO David Risher even bought it participates.
The tux was finally located under a stairwell about a mile from the landing point. It was a momentary viral fiasco with a happy ending, but a feature to match passengers with pet-friendly drivers likely could have prevented it. “[The driver] she told me she wouldn’t have taken me if she’d known I had a cat.” The Washington Post informed Pandey says. “He said he was allergic to cats and would refuse the walk. “I ended up in a pet hospital and I had a pet carrier, so it’s hard to understand.”
