Claire Harris is the founder of Pets 2 Places – the UK’s first pet taxi franchise and talks about why she’s on a mission to educate owners about pet travel safety.
Her business started back in 2014 when Claire had the idea to make a taxi service for pets, and with a £10 phone and a handful of leaflets.
She was supporting elderly people in her old role in another business, and was asked about helping get pets to the vets.
Claire gave the concept of ‘Pets to Vets’ a try, walked round vets with her leafets, and her business expanded, rebranded to Pets2Places in Milton Keynes and has grown into a national business helping people and their pets travel safely.
As well as transporting animals, Claire feels so passionately about making sure when they’re travelling, pets are safe, and created Pet Travel Safety Day to educate owners around doing their best for their pets when they’re in the car.
This happens every July 1st, the day wearing seatbelts became compulsory, and now Claire is working on creating her own crash tested travel equipment for pets and has become one of the UK’s leading campaigners for pet travel safety.
She talks about the lack of proper safety standards when she started out, and how she taught herself everything from scratch, plus how being visible has helped.
All the links to connect with Claire and learn more about her work and Pet Travel Safety mission are at the end of this post and you can listen to the interview on the player link here.
Key quotes in this episode:
“I used unsafe equipment in the early days because I didn’t know any better. That’s why I’m so passionate about educating people now – we don’t know what we don’t know.”
“A 20-kilogram dog in a crash at 30 miles an hour is like a small moose flying at you – most of us wouldn’t survive that.”
“One of my customers was in a crash with her small dog. It broke 12 of her ribs, punctured her lung, and changed her life forever.”
“When a dog jumps out of a window and an owner runs after them into the road, it doesn’t just cost lives – it shuts down motorways. The impact is huge.”
“We wouldn’t dream of letting kids ride unrestrained in the back of a car anymore. So why are pets still being put at risk every single day?”
“Pets are family. If we protect children with crash-tested car seats, we need to do the same for them.”
“There’s no judgement – people aren’t being reckless, they just don’t know the dangers. My role is to share what I’ve learned so they can make safer choices.”
“I’ve built this business with grit, determination and a £10 phone. If I can keep going, anyone can.”
“For many of our customers, we’re more than a taxi. We’re a lifeline – their pet means more to them than anyone else in their world.”
Key takeaways:
Claire’s business began as a simple service to help people get their pets to the vet – but quickly became so much more.
She discovered a huge gap in knowledge around safe pet transport and took it upon herself to learn, test and teach others.
UK law on pet travel is vague and outdated, with no legal requirement for crash-tested equipment. Claire wants that to change.
Pet Travel Safety Day, launched by Claire, raises awareness and pushes for better safety standards and doing more than Rule 57 of the Highway Code.
She’s working with engineers, product designers and vets to develop crash-tested pet products that are both safe and affordable.
The Pets 2 Places franchise offers meaningful work to people who want to make a difference in their communities.
Visibility through press, podcasting and campaigns has played a huge role in growing her impact and building trust.
Topics and timings in this episode
0.20 – Introduction to the episode.
2.28 – How Claire’s Pets2Places business happened by accident.
7.12 – What is was like starting out and how Claire went round her local vets with leaflets and her business grew.
11.22 – What travel equipment was like when Claire started out and what she’s learned.
14.36 – What set Claire off on her mission to learn about pet travel safety, and how she went about building her expertise in the area.
19.11 – What the law says about pet travel (and what’s missing).
21.16 – Claire’s education and awareness work and Pet Travel Safety Day on July 1st.
23.54 – What Claire’s taxis look like when it comes to equipment and keeping the animals she cares for safe.
25.43 – The impact of being in an accident with an animal and how dangerous unrestrained pets in the car can be.
27.30 – Some of the experiences Claire has heard of with animals being loose and the tragedies that can happen.
30.05 – Claire’s plans to create crash tested ISO standard travel equipment for animals and her work campaigning for the government to take Pet Travel Safety more seriously.
32.05 – Member story from Sarah Jones from My Anxious Dog.
33.07 – Claire’s frustration that animals are ignored when it comes to travelling safely when we’re a nation of pet lovers.
34.11 – Her recommendations for pet owners who want to make sure their dog is safe.
36.02 – The problem with the market at the moment and things to consider if you’re making a pet travel product to protect the pet and the people in the car.
38.34 – The product she’s developing and what makes it different as she’s working with vets, engineers and product designers.
41.14 – The range of products she’s planning to make, from robust and hardwearing for pet pros and cuter designs for younger pet owners.
44.21 – The growth of Claire’s pet transport business, and how it’s an ideal opportunity for people who love pets and want to support the human and animal relationship.
46.31 – The most effective communication channels for getting her Pet Travel Safety message out there and getting in the press.
48.54 – How Claire’s passion has helped her become an authority and expert in her field.
51.38 – Dealing with rejection and how this has made her more determined to keep moving forward.
54.34 – How self belief and grit and determination has helped Claire keep going.
55.31 – Where to find out more about Claire and her work.
Links mentioned:
Find out more about Claire on her website: https://pets2places.co.uk/
Follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pets2PlacesMiltonKeynes/
Connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-harris-80780512a/
The Kurgo harness Claire recommends: https://kurgo.uk/products/enhanced-strength-tru-fit-dog-car-harness
Pet Travel Safety Day details: https://pets2places.co.uk/pet-travel-safety-day/
The Pet Business Planner has all the key awareness days in, buy your copy here.
Looking to raise your profile like Claire? Join my Pets Get Visible membership here.
Further listening if you enjoyed this episode:
Victor Carpio on his mission to improve cat dental health
Gemma Glover from The Pet Carpenter on creating beautiful bedrooms for pets
Why Sarah Jones is on a mission for every dog owner to know what a dog in yellow means
Niki French on why you don’t need to walk your dog every day
Heather Stevens on her mission to help owners understand Functional Characters
Is my Pets Get Visible membership right for you?
Should you buy my Pet Business Content Planner?
Episode summary
Prefer reading to listening? Here’s a Q&A-style version of my chat with Claire Harris, founder of Pets2Places, taken directly from the podcast transcript.
It’s edited down for clarity, but all in Claire’s own words.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and Pets 2 Places?
“I’m Claire Harris, founder of Pets 2 Places, the world’s first pet taxi franchise. I started back in 2014 with a £10 Nokia phone, a £10 top-up card and some leaflets. I literally walked around vets with them, and that’s how the business began.
“At first it was called Pets to Vets, because that’s all I was doing – taking people and their pets to the vets. But customers started asking if I could take them to the groomers, or to visit friends, and the service grew from there.
“After about three years we rebranded as Pets 2 Places.”
What was it like when you first started out?
“I didn’t know anything about running a business. I’d been a franchisee in a cleaning business, but that was a disaster. There was no support, and I’d been widowed just months after starting, so I wasn’t in any place to succeed.
“When I started Pets 2 Places I had no clue. I didn’t know about tax returns, I didn’t know about keeping records. Everything I’ve learned about business, I’ve learned along the way.
“Even how to transport pets – I thought it was just pop them in the car with one of those £5 seatbelt clips. But I’ve since learned that’s not safe at all.”
When did pet travel safety become your focus?
“I have a really inquisitive mind. The more I transported pets, the more I noticed things that didn’t sit right. People turning up to the vets with a cat basket on the front seat – and you think, what happens if the airbag goes off?
“Or dogs with their heads out the window – what if they jump, or what about all the bugs hitting their eyes?
“I realised I had to find out what was really safe. Once you know better, you have to do better. That’s why I’m so passionate about education now – because people don’t know what they don’t know.”
What happens in a crash with an unrestrained dog?
“A 20 kilogram dog travelling at 30 miles an hour is like a small moose flying at you. You might not survive that.
“One of my customers was in a crash with her little dog, about 9 kilos. The dog flew across the car, broke 12 of her ribs and punctured her lung. She spent two and a half weeks in hospital and still has check-ups now, more than 10 years later.”
What does the law in the UK say right now?
“The only legal guideline is Highway Code rule 57. It just says your pet must be restrained – but it doesn’t say how. So people clip dogs in with unsafe equipment, or put cats in the front seat.
“And nobody’s enforcing it. The police have bigger things to deal with. If you crash with a pet in the car, it’s not even recorded as data. So we don’t know the scale of the problem.”
Tell us about Pet Travel Safety Day.
“I created Pet Travel Safety Day on 1st July 2021. That date marked 30 years since it became law for everyone in a car to wear a seatbelt. Before that it was just the front seats, then they changed the law and millions of lives were saved.
“I wanted to do the same for pets – start raising awareness so people stop and think, ‘Actually, there’s a better way I could be doing this.’ It’s not about judgement, it’s just about giving people information so they can make safer choices.”
What changes would you like to see?
“I’m campaigning for a change in the law so pets have to be restrained using crash-tested equipment. I want to create a new ISO standard, the same as children’s car seats.
Children’s car seats were invented to stop kids distracting the driver. That’s exactly what Highway Code rule 57 says about pets. History is repeating itself—pets are the new kids.”
Are there safe products available now?
“At the moment I recommend the Kurgo crash-tested harness. It’s about £25, so affordable, and it will keep you going until my products are available.
“The problem is a lot of products look nice but aren’t safe. Many are designed by product designers with no experience of pet transport. I’m working on creating products that are genuinely crash-tested, safe and comfortable.”
Tell us about your franchise.
“Our customers are often elderly, disabled or housebound. Their pet might be their only companion, and getting to the vet or groomer is so important.
“We don’t just pull up outside and beep the horn. We go in, help them get ready, carry the cat basket, hold an arm if they’re unsteady. We’re more than a taxi – we’re a support service. For many people, we’re a lifeline.”
What’s helped you get visible?
“Press has been the best thing. Social media is great, but when you’re in a newspaper or magazine you reach millions of people who didn’t know you existed. And it’s free if you do it yourself.
“That year I spent learning about publicity was the best money I ever spent. Visibility has helped me reach people and also stay accountable to my mission.”
What would you say to someone who keeps hearing ‘no’?
“When I first started, people told me to get a proper job. If an organisation says no, who cares? Ask someone else.
“I know I’m on to something, and I know I’ll make a difference. The grit and determination to keep going has been the only thing that’s kept me here at times.
“There have been many moments when I thought I couldn’t do it, but I believe in what I’m doing. That belief is what’s kept me going.”
What’s next for you?
“I’m working with engineers, product designers and hopefully a vet to create crash-tested harnesses for small dogs. We’ll start with an affordable version, because if we want to change the law, we need solutions people can afford.
“It’s about protecting pets, protecting people, and giving franchisees a business that really makes a difference. My dream is for everyone to have safe, accessible options so pets travel just as safely as children do.”
Find out more about Claire on her website: https://pets2places.co.uk/
