Blind customer, Paula, claims popular ride-sharing service cancelled 30+ rides because she travels with a guide dog: 'The company needs to sack the drivers who refuse.'

Author image for Blake Seidel
Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Jul 27, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Happy Sunday, animal fam. If you've had to take an Uber in the last year or so, you probably haven't enjoyed it. From the numerous cancellations from drivers to the above-average waiting times, the popular ride-sharing service has, in our eyes, really taken a turn for the worse. And now, in Australia, they're facing a lawsuit from Paula Hobley, who claims that she had 32 rides cancelled by Uber drivers because of her guide dog. 

Paula is a blind woman who travels frequently with her guide dog, and she even frequently attempts to use the "Uber Pet" option, which is specifically for riders who wish to travel with their pets. And still, she kept getting cancelled.

We've written our fair share of articles about people who try to pretend their animals are service animals for the benefit of it, so we understand why drivers would be cautious of such a thing, but that doesn't excuse this level of action. It's time for the world to wake up and start putting serious qualifications for service animals - it's a start, if nothing else.

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    Cheezburger Image 10534096384
    via pixelshot

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    Paula and her guide dog

    Cheezburger Image 10534085632
    via Elias Visontay
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    Lady_Penrhyn1 • 17h ago Best friend is a Guide dog. handler, she's had dozens upon dozens of refusals from ubers (and taxis before that). Started using Sheba, found a couple drivers she gets along with and just books directly through them.
    via Lady_Penrhyn1
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    It shouldn't have to be that way. This is NOT a new problem. This is a problem that Uber is refusing to handle.
    via Lady_Penrhyn1

  • Uber has a history of refusing to deal with certain problems. All of this rests on the fact that Uber does not consider their drivers as employees, rather, as contractors. This allows them to operate in a legal (and moral) gray area that is pawsitively shady. 

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    . Spagman_Aus 17h ago Uber still trying to get away with not being responsible for their drivers actions I see.
    via Spagman_Aus
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    cbhaleoz 9h ago • It is not just Uber drivers; taxi drivers do the same. They refuse to take rides when people with guide dogs too. This at taxi ranks and when ordered. Taxi and Uber drivers need education. Tasmania did
    via cbhaleoz
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    a massive advertising campaign a couple of years ago about the rights of people with guide dogs and taxis/ubers, and it worked. Last week a person with a guide dog I know went to Hobart and they used taxis many times to get around. They did not get any driver refusing them.
    via cbhaleoz
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    Cheezburger Image 10534087680
    via Odua Images

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    georgiameow • 8h ago . My mum doesnt drive and uses uber pets (no guide dog) and the amount of uber pet drivers that decline.
    via georgiameow
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    SuperannuationLaw... 11h ago . The company needs to be vicariously liable for wrongdoing of its drivers. This façade of drivers not bulls being employees needs to end.
    via SuperannuationLawyer
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    Impember 17h ago It is almost as if letting an unregulated entrant take over the market made services worse for the very people the regulations sought to protect. If only we had a gazillion examples of this very thing happening.
    via Impember

  • Taxis were not great back in the day, but now we actually prefer to take taxis instead of Ubers. Whenever we take an Uber, it always ends in disappointment for one reason or another. Surprised? Yeah, neither are we.

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    Successful-Memory... .7h ago My experience, even with Uber pet has been woeful, the cars are filthy, the drivers are r de. I can't imagine what they're like with guide dogs but imagine just as city.
    via Successful-Memory839
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    RIDESHARE NEW REQUEST! ACCEPT
    via Tero Vesalainen

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    Fabbz3182 • 16h ago The company needs to sack the drivers who refuse.
    via Fabbz3182
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    Brownlw657 .7h ago I don't even have a guide dog, but standing on a city street | get cancelled up to 6 times depending on the time of day. I could not imagine how annoying it would be for it to happen more than that due to uncontrollable circumstances.
    via Brownlw657
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    WeldinMike27 • 5h ago I'd prefer to have a guide dog in my car over most people.
    via WeldinMike27
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    lumifox. 7h ago My take on this is that the government needs to fix the "trust me bro" aspect of service animals. I sympathize with someone blind but I bet so many other people ab e the "it's a service animals you
    via lumifox
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    have to take them!" When it's not. If you look at ride sharing subreddits you can see the amount of damage and yuck a pet can do to someone's car so I can see the apprehension in accepting dogs forcibly.
    via lumifox
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    Maybe some sort of physical drivers license type deal to show that your dog is in fact necessary and trained/cared for as a real service animal.
    via lumifox
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    Infinite_Pudding 50... 18m ago Unless the driver is severely allergic to dogs (in which case the uber app shouldn't connect the passenger to this driver), then there is ZERO EXCUSE.
    via Infinite_Pudding5058
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    Fun-Journalist-0690 4h ago . I once worked with a receptionist who used a wheelchair, and unbelievably, some taxi drivers refused to pick them up. It was just unfathomable.
    via Fun-Journalist-0690

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dogs doggo animals ride share customers drivers service dogs blind guide dog company
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