When at the vets a few months ago I met a lady who had to take a taxi to and fro the vets [they also have a groomer who clips dogs at the vets]. The taxi driver would only take the [small] dog in the car so long as it stayed in the front passenger footwell. I understand he does not want dog hairs etc on his car but the lady had a blanket for the dog and I would imagine some dogs would find it very frightening. Apparently he took the dog off the lady [elderly] and insisted it stay in the footwell. He told her he had a dog himself so knew how to make it stay

Its alright saying she should refuse to get the taxi but she was not only elderly but quite frail with it and had no other form of transportation.

We used to take a taxi regularly back from our training classes when my husband had the car cos he was working nights. We used the same taxi firm who were very good and the dog used to sit in the passenger footwell place and be very well-behaved (also my dogs don't moult). I can understand why some people don't want dogs in their taxis/buses etc as sadly people don't always have the best behaved animals and taxi drivers usually use their own cars and therefore don't want dog hairs/drool or worse all over them if the dog is not particularly well-behaved. (mind you some of their clientele on a weekend night ....drool/sick etc!).

However when I had my 2 Cairn terriers I used to use the buses regularly with them as it was before I passed my driving test. One day I got on and the driver said I could only bring one dog on the bus! Bearing in mind they were very small dogs anyway. I replied "Do you want me to tell the other one to wait for the next bus?" and got on anyway but was very annoyed at his attitude. When I got home I rang the bus company to complain and they said it was 2 different dogs that wouldn't be allowed on the same bus in case there was a fight so if someone was already on the bus with their dog and someone else with a dog wanted to get on they wouldn't let them. However, 2 dogs belonging to the same person was fine and the driver should have used his common sense but there's nothing common about common sense as my husband keeps saying!

I also wondered re the Birmingham bus company that left things to the discretion of their drivers about letting dogs on if this was because they had Muslim drivers who consider dogs to be unclean because of their saliva? I know there was a taxi driver who was prosecuted and fined for not taking a blind person with their guide dog when she booked a taxi, he just turned up at the hotel and when he saw there was a dog just turned round and left without saying anything. Not being racist/anti-religious but just seems this may be a reason as to why they wouldn't let the dog on the bus.

surely if a dog drools or is sick or whatever in the taxi, the owner should be fined the same amount as a drunk person being sick in the car.

I'm lucky that I've never had a problem getting on the bus with any of mine. Though I was told when I rang and enquired that it is no more than 2 dogs per person and dogs have to pay child fare.

I still regularly get charged child fare for my dogs, is that supposed to be a national thing or just in your area youngstevie?

we dont pay for dogs here either Liverpool/wirral area

pmsl at the last line, iv hardly ever have problems here, i do remember once the driver was refusing to let me on with my mums 2 and ty, i was only going just up the road, so i said its ok ill walk but kara ( my mums rottie) refused to get off the bus so the driver eventually let me on on the understanding that i kept them well behaved which they all were and that i got off at the stop i told him i was getting off at which i did, i just think he didnt want to argue with the rottie lol

This happened about 20 years ago to my mums Dobe, he was going to the vets for vaccinations, and was refused travel because of he 'looked imtimdating'.