Yes. We take dogs, and we have done for years. If that is the only thing you came here to find out, phone the branch nearest you, say you are travelling with a dog, and book the car. The rest of this page is for the questions that usually follow.
“Do taxis allow dogs” is one of the most searched questions about taxis in Britain, and the reason it gets asked so often is that the honest answer for the trade as a whole is “it depends on the driver”. Plenty of people have stood on a pavement in the rain with a dog on a lead while a car drove off. That is the experience this page exists to prevent.
With a private hire firm like ours the problem is solvable, because every journey is booked in advance through an office. When you tell us at the booking stage that a dog is travelling, we allocate a driver and a vehicle that take dogs. Nothing is left to a roadside negotiation. The failure mode in our trade is almost always an unannounced dog meeting a driver who was not expecting one — so announce the dog.
Dog journeys are often not planned. A limp that appeared this morning, a dog that has eaten something it should not have, a cancelled lift to the kennels the day you fly. Phone rather than book online when the journey is in the next hour, tell the office it is urgent and that a dog is travelling, and they will find the nearest suitable car. Our drivers are spread across eleven branches, so in our own towns that is usually quick.
People search for dog friendly taxis near me, pet friendly cabs, taxis that allow dogs and taxis that take dogs. They are all the same request and the “near me” part is the part that decides whether it works. A dog friendly taxi is only useful if it can reach you in a sensible time, which is why we run from eleven branches rather than one office.
We cover Epsom, Ewell, West Ewell, Stoneleigh, Sutton, Cheam, North Cheam, Worcester Park, Carshalton, Wallington, Belmont, Banstead, Burgh Heath, Tadworth, Chipstead, Ashtead, Leatherhead, Bookham, Chessington, Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, Morden, Reigate, Redhill, Dorking, Weybridge, Walton-on-Thames, Esher, Godalming, Guildford and Farnham. We are a Surrey and south-west London operator; if you are looking for a pet friendly taxi in central, north or east London, a local firm there will get to you faster than we will.
There is an important distinction that gets lost in the “pet friendly” framing. An assistance dog is not a pet and is not covered by the same discretion. This section is the law, not our policy.
Licensed taxi and private hire drivers have a legal duty to carry a guide dog or any other assistance dog travelling with a disabled passenger, and to carry it at no additional cost. That duty has been in force since 2001 and now sits in the Equality Act 2010. A driver cannot decline on the grounds of personal preference, and licensing guidance is explicit that cultural or religious belief is not a lawful reason to refuse an assistance dog owner, because assistance dogs are working animals rather than pets.
The only way a licensed driver may lawfully decline to carry an assistance dog is by holding a valid medical exemption certificate issued by their licensing authority — typically for a genuine allergy or a relevant medical condition. A driver with an exemption must display the exemption notice in the vehicle. If you are ever refused and no exemption notice is displayed, that is a licensing matter and the council that issued the badge is the place to raise it.
You do not have to justify an assistance dog to us or prove anything to book a car. It is still worth mentioning it when you book, for the same practical reason as any dog: it lets the office allocate a car with enough room for a dog to lie down properly rather than a small saloon. If you also use a wheelchair, our wheelchair accessible vehicles take an assistance dog alongside the chair.
Rule 57 of the Highway Code says that when in a vehicle you should make sure dogs or other animals are suitably restrained so they cannot distract the driver or injure themselves if the car stops quickly, and it names a seat belt harness, a pet carrier, a dog cage and a dog guard as ways of doing it. It is advisory rather than a legal must in its own right, but it is sound advice and it is also the thing most likely to make a driver comfortable with your dog in the car.
In practice: a small dog in a carrier is the easiest journey of all and almost never a problem. A medium dog in a harness clipped to a rear seat belt is straightforward. A large dog loose on a back seat is the version that causes friction, so if you have a harness or a crate, bring it.
Where the dog travels depends on the car, and the car depends on what you tell us. An estate gives you a proper boot space with a dog guard, which is the best option for a big or muddy dog. A saloon means the back seat or the footwell. An MPV gives you room for a crate. Ask for the vehicle you want rather than hoping; see our vehicle options for what is available.
A pickup from Epsom Downs, Nonsuch Park, Horton Country Park, Box Hill or the river at Walton after a long walk means a wet dog. That is a completely normal booking, but it is a different one from a dry dog going to the vet, and the driver needs to know so a cover or a blanket is in the car. Bring your own towel too; it will be used.
Dogs that are fine for ten minutes are not always fine for an hour, and a run to Heathrow or Gatwick is an hour-plus job. If your dog is prone to travel sickness, avoid a big meal immediately before, ask for a car where the dog can see out, and say at the booking stage that you may need a short stop. Drivers would much rather pull over for two minutes than deal with the alternative.
Two labradors plus two passengers plus luggage is an MPV job, not a saloon job, and getting that wrong is the most common reason a pet booking goes badly. Tell the office the number of dogs, roughly how big, the number of people and whether there are bags. It takes fifteen seconds on the phone and it is the difference between a smooth pickup and a car that cannot take you.
Dogs are the overwhelming majority of pet journeys, but they are not the only ones. Cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds and small reptiles all travel with us, and almost always more easily than dogs do, because they travel in a carrier. A secure, closed carrier on a seat or in a footwell is the simplest pet booking there is. The things worth mentioning when you book are the size of the carrier and whether it needs to sit flat.
This is the single most common pet journey we do, and a good share of it is people who normally drive but cannot today — a car in the garage, an injury that makes driving impossible, a dog too distressed to be managed alone at the wheel. We are a taxi firm rather than an animal ambulance, so we have no veterinary equipment and no blue lights, but we can usually get a car to you quickly and we will help you get a dog in and out of it.
These are the easiest pet bookings to plan because the date is known weeks ahead. Kennel and cattery drop-offs cluster hard around the start of school holidays and the days before Christmas, which is exactly when cars are scarcest, so book early. If you are dropping off on your way to the airport, say so — it is one booking with a stop, not two separate jobs, and it is cheaper that way.
Two versions of this exist. The common one is dropping the dog at kennels or with family and then carrying on to the terminal, which we handle as a single multi-stop journey. The less common one is a pet flying with you, which means a carrier that meets the airline’s requirements and usually a bulkier one than you would use around town — tell us the carrier dimensions so we send a car with the boot space. Our airport transfer service covers Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and London City.
Moving day with animals is its own problem: the van takes the furniture and nobody has thought about the cat. A car booked for the pets alone, going at a sensible time rather than in the middle of the chaos, is usually the answer. Collecting a new puppy or a rescue dog is the happier version of the same booking, and worth telling us about because a first car journey for a young animal goes better in a quieter, roomier vehicle.
The fare is worked out the way any of our fares is: the distance, the time of day and the size of vehicle. The pet itself is the part worth asking about directly, because conditions vary by journey and by vehicle — whether a crate is needed, whether an estate is required for a large dog, and anything the driver needs to bring. Ask the office to confirm the full price and any conditions when you book, so there is nothing to discuss at the kerb.
One thing is not a variable: an assistance dog travelling with a disabled passenger must be carried at no additional cost. That is the law rather than a discount.
Worth separating, because the two phrases get used interchangeably and they are not the same service. A pet friendly taxi — what this page is about — carries you and your animal together: you book the car, you travel in it, your dog or cat comes with you. A pet taxi usually means something else entirely: a courier-style service that collects an animal and transports it without its owner, to a vet or across the country.
Moving an animal on its own is not something we offer as a standard service, because it raises questions about handling, insurance and who is responsible for the animal in transit that a normal taxi booking does not answer. If that is what you need, phone the office and ask rather than booking online — whether it is possible depends entirely on the journey. For documents and parcels rather than animals, our courier service is the right page.
People search for dog friendly cabs, pet friendly cabs, a dog friendly cab service, taxis that take dogs and taxis that allow dogs, and in our case every one of those phrases describes the same thing: a licensed private hire car booked through one of our offices, with a driver who has been told a dog is coming.
The word “minicab” is worth one note. A dog friendly minicab has to be pre-booked — a private hire car cannot legally be hailed in the street, which in this context is an advantage rather than a restriction. The booking is precisely where the dog gets mentioned and the right vehicle gets allocated. With a flagged-down cab there is no such step, which is exactly why so many people have been turned away. If you want the distinction in full, see our comparison of minicabs and black cabs.
Each town has its own page with local pickup points and routes: Epsom, Ewell, Sutton, North Cheam, Carshalton, Belmont, Burgh Heath, Tadworth, Chipstead, Ashtead, Leatherhead, Surbiton, Kingston, Morden, Reigate, Weybridge, Godalming, Guildford and Farnham.
| Branch | Where it is | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Epsom (head office) | Epsom Clock Tower, Epsom KT19 8BA | 01372 747 747 |
| Bookham | Bookham | 01372 727 727 |
| Carshalton | 33 North Street, Carshalton SM5 2HW | 0208 773 0700 |
| Chessington | Cox Lane, Chessington KT9 1SD | 0208 397 4747 |
| Ewell West | Ewell West | 0208 330 5555 |
| Godalming | Station Approach, Godalming GU7 1EU | 01483 422 222 |
| Guildford | Station Approach, London Road, Guildford GU1 4DQ | 01483 301 000 |
| Kingston | 39A Walter Street, Kingston KT2 5DS | 0203 388 9999 |
| Reigate | Castle Court, 41 London Road, Reigate RH2 9RJ | 01737 333 700 |
| Sutton | Sutton | 0208 643 2255 |
| Weybridge | Station Approach, Weybridge KT13 8UD | 01932 598 598 |
Our branch locator will tell you which is nearest, and the find us page has the full detail. Families who travel with pets often use the same account for school runs and medical appointments; an account saves paying in the car each time.
It varies across the trade, which is why the question gets asked so often. With us, yes — tell the office a dog is travelling when you book and we allocate a driver and vehicle that take dogs. Because every private hire journey is booked in advance, nothing is left to a negotiation at the kerb.
Phone the branch nearest your pickup, or use the online booking form and put the dog in the notes. Say how many dogs and roughly what size, whether the dog travels in a crate, carrier or loose, and whether it is likely to be wet or muddy. Confirm the price and any conditions at that point rather than when the car arrives.
If you are in Epsom, Ewell, Sutton, Cheam, Worcester Park, Carshalton, Wallington, Banstead, Tadworth, Ashtead, Leatherhead, Chessington, Surbiton, Kingston, Morden, Reigate, Redhill, Dorking, Weybridge, Walton, Godalming, Guildford or Farnham, yes. We run from eleven branches so a car starts near you rather than crossing the county to reach you.
Yes. Licensed taxi and private hire drivers have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to carry a guide dog or other assistance dog travelling with a disabled passenger, at no additional cost. The only lawful exception is a driver holding a valid medical exemption certificate from their licensing authority, who must display the exemption notice in the vehicle.
For an assistance dog travelling with a disabled passenger, no — the law requires it to be carried at no additional cost. For pets generally, ask the office to confirm the full price and any conditions when you book, because it depends on the journey and the vehicle required.
Not necessarily, but it helps. Highway Code rule 57 advises that animals should be suitably restrained so they cannot distract the driver or be injured in a sudden stop, and names a harness, carrier, cage or dog guard. It is advisory rather than an offence in itself, but a dog in a harness or crate is the smoothest version of this booking.
Yes, with the right vehicle. Two large dogs plus passengers and luggage is an estate or MPV job, not a saloon. Tell the office the number of dogs, roughly how big, how many people and whether there are bags, and the right car is sent.
No, but say so when you book. A pickup from Epsom Downs, Nonsuch Park, Horton Country Park or Box Hill after a long walk is a normal job; the driver just needs to know so a cover or blanket is in the car. Bring a towel of your own as well.
Yes, and they are usually the easiest pet journeys because they travel in a closed carrier. Tell us the size of the carrier and whether it needs to sit flat, and it can go on a seat or in a footwell.
We can usually get a car to you quickly in our own towns, and the driver will help you get a dog in and out. We are a taxi firm though, not an animal ambulance — there is no veterinary equipment in the car. For a genuine emergency, phone your vet first and ask what they want you to do.
Yes, and it is one booking with a stop rather than two separate journeys, which is cheaper. Mention both addresses when you book. Kennel drop-offs cluster at the start of school holidays and before Christmas, so book early for those dates.
That is a pet taxi or pet courier service rather than a pet friendly taxi, and it is not something we offer as standard, because it raises handling, insurance and responsibility questions a normal booking does not answer. Phone the office and ask rather than booking online; it depends entirely on the journey.
Either, depending on the car you book. An estate gives you a boot with a dog guard, which suits a big or muddy dog. A saloon means the back seat or footwell. An MPV takes a crate. Ask for the vehicle you want at the booking stage.
We cover the south-west London boroughs on our doorstep — Sutton, Kingston upon Thames and Merton — along with the whole of our Surrey patch. For central, north or east London, a firm based there will reach you faster.
Phone the branch nearest you, say a dog or a pet is travelling, and give the size and the number. Epsom head office is on 01372 747 747, or book online through the booking form with the pet noted. One sentence at the booking stage is all it takes to make the difference between a car that takes your dog and one that does not.
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