Request is not confirmation
Submitting a form, email, text, voicemail, or online request does not guarantee availability or create a transportation contract. Critter Car must accept and confirm the service.
Effective August 11, 2026
Critter Car transportation policies.
These operational policies apply to Critter Car requests unless a written quote, service confirmation, or separate agreement provides different terms for the specific trip.
Safety and feasibility come before schedule pressure.
Critter Car may pause, modify, decline, or end a service when the animal, equipment, route, weather, access, receiving arrangement, or requested task cannot be completed within available capability.
Reservation and payment
Requests become reservations only after review and payment.
$99 non-refundable deposit
The booking process requires a $99 non-refundable deposit. Reservation requests are not valid until the deposit is paid. Remaining payment arrangements are provided with confirmation.
Changes and rescheduling
Changes to addresses, times, service type, pet count, carrier size, waiting, access, or support needs may change pricing or availability. Report changes before the driver departs.
Cancellations
Contact Critter Car as soon as plans change. The booking deposit remains non-refundable. Any additional cancellation, rescheduling, credit, or package terms are governed by the written confirmation.
Same-day requests
Same-day and urgent requests are considered only when the schedule, route, vehicle, animal, and receiving destination can be confirmed. Submission does not guarantee service.
Quoted versus actual charges
Estimates rely on the information provided. Actual mileage, waiting, parking, tolls, access delays, added stops, changed scope, or extraordinary conditions may change the final total.
Animal preparation and equipment
Pets must be secured before the vehicle moves.
Carrier or crate
Cats and small animals must travel in an appropriate secure carrier or crate. Dogs and other animals must use equipment approved for the trip. Exceptions require explicit advance approval.
Equipment condition
The guardian is responsible for providing equipment that closes securely, fits the animal, is structurally sound, and is suitable for the route and destination requirements.
Crate rental
Standard rental equipment may be available for $15. Availability, size, sanitation, airline acceptance, and suitability are not guaranteed until confirmed.
Crating or leash assistance
Base service is curbside. Pre-arranged assistance securing an animal is $25 per pet. Service may be stopped if safe capture or secure containment is not possible.
Behavior and handling disclosure
Disclose bite, escape, panic, carrier, mobility, aggression, sound, touch, and medical sensitivities before confirmation. Withholding relevant information may make the trip unsafe.
Health and fitness to travel
The guardian is responsible for determining whether the animal is fit for the planned trip and for obtaining veterinary guidance when illness, injury, sedation, medication, pregnancy, age, or stress tolerance is a concern.
Pickup, waiting, and passengers
Access and time must match the confirmed plan.
Curbside base service
Have the secured animal ready at the vehicle at the confirmed time. Building access, stairs, elevators, parking, in-home assistance, or extended pickup activity must be disclosed.
Waiting and idle time
Time the driver must remain for pickup, appointment, airport, parking, cargo, discharge, receiving-party, access, paperwork, or other delays is billable at the published rate unless included in writing.
Accompanying people
A guardian or authorized person may accompany the pet only when arranged in advance and when seating, route, insurance, animal, and driver conditions permit.
Personal property
Label medications, records, food, keys, carriers, and supplies. Do not send irreplaceable or unnecessary valuables. Critter Car may decline unlisted or unsafe items.
Veterinary and airport handoffs
The guardian remains responsible for third-party acceptance and decisions.
Veterinary authorization
The guardian must alert the clinic, authorize information release, establish payment, and identify who may consent to care. Critter Car does not make independent medical decisions.
Medical limitations
Critter Car is not an ambulance or veterinary provider. Drivers do not diagnose, prescribe, or replace emergency veterinary instructions or medically equipped transport.
Airline reservation
The guardian or shipper must reserve the animal with the airline and confirm fees, carrier rules, documentation, health requirements, weather limits, and acceptance timing.
Terminal or cargo office
The guardian must obtain the airline-designated handoff or pickup location. Critter Car follows airport and airline access rules and cannot guarantee entry, acceptance, or release.
Travel documents
The guardian is responsible for certificates, vaccines, permits, import requirements, destination-state rules, identification, and regulatory compliance unless a separate written relocation agreement says otherwise.
Third-party delay or refusal
Airlines, clinics, cargo offices, care facilities, and receiving parties may delay or refuse acceptance. Related waiting, return, parking, rerouting, or care costs remain billable.
Delays, weather, and route changes
Transportation occurs in real operating conditions.
No absolute arrival guarantee
Traffic, collisions, road work, weather, flight changes, clinic delays, parking, mechanical issues, closures, and other events can alter timing despite reasonable planning.
Unsafe conditions
Heat, cold, smoke, snow, ice, flooding, road closures, civil emergencies, or animal distress may require delay, rerouting, transfer, or cancellation.
Unreachable contacts
Provide a live primary and backup contact. If no authorized person can be reached, Critter Car may take reasonable steps consistent with safety and the written plan, with resulting costs charged to the client.
Receiving failure
If the destination is closed, refuses the animal, or has no authorized receiver, the client remains responsible for waiting, alternate placement, return transportation, and related third-party care costs.
Emergency action: when Critter Car reasonably believes immediate action is necessary to protect an animal or person and the authorized contact cannot be reached, Critter Car may contact emergency services or an available veterinary provider. The guardian remains responsible for resulting charges.
Packages and third-party services
Published inclusions still require trip eligibility.
Membership and airport packages
Eligibility, covered mileage, included waiting, expiration, priority scheduling, unused trips, transfers, extraordinary routes, and renewal terms must be confirmed in writing.
Parking, tolls, ferries, and lodging
Direct route expenses may be passed through to the client. Long-distance transportation may include driver return travel, lodging, and other route-specific costs.
Connected Cats in the City services
Boarding, grooming, sitting, veterinary care, relocation planning, and other services have separate intake, rates, agreements, and policies even when transportation is coordinated.
Policy hierarchy
A signed agreement, written quote, service confirmation, or provider-specific intake may add to or override general website language for a particular service.
Have a policy question about a specific route?
Send the trip details. General policies cannot answer every airport, medical, long-distance, multi-pet, or special-access situation.
