PARASITE open thread!

Loved the book. As always.

One comment for Seanan on a very minor detail, in case it comes up in future books in the series: Sal brought up the possibility of using Beverly as a service dog, with her "service" being personal protection. Of course, Sal wouldn't be expected to know anything about service dogs at this point. And this may have been a passing idea that Sal actually would never have intended to follow up on, in which case the information in this comment is totally unnecessary and the comment is ridiculously long for no real reason. But just In case...

If Sal was to research this, she will learn that a protection dog does not qualify as a service dog. In fact, it's generally felt that dogs trained as protection dogs cannot be service dogs. Service dogs need to get along with the public and pose no threat, and to count on their handlers to make all the judgment calls, at least as regards other humans, and to do all the protecting.

There is no certification for service dogs in the U.S. in general. I think there is in CA, some sort of state certification, but I don't know much about that. CA may be the only state that has this. outside of CA, some programs issue "certifications" for their dogs, but it doesn't really mean anything. Largely it just confuses the public, adding to the mistaken perception that an owner should be able to produce some kind of document to prove their dog is a service dog, when in fact no such document exists or is required.

Regardless of state, to be a service dog, the dog's owner must have a disability, and the dog must be trained to do tasks to mediate that disability. That's all the law requires. But people with service dogs (at least, the bulk of the service dog community) will be pretty unhappy if your service dog is not also trained with impeccable public access skills. Understandably, since dogs with poor manners being presented as service dogs make it harder for anyone a service dog to be welcome in public.

As far as public access, people with disabilities are allowed to take their service dogs into most public places, but they can also be asked to remove the dog if the dog is disruptive in any way. There are exceptions to being able to take a service dog "anywhere", too, and I don't know all of them, but I believe military or government-owned properties have separate laws. Also, the laws covering housing rights are different from the laws covering public access, and workplace accommodation is another matter entirely. You're not automatically allowed to take a service dog to work... Having the dog there needs to be evaluated as a "reasonable accommodation" on a case-by-case basis.

It's a pretty complicated subject, all in all. Sal's apparent lack of a disability will disqualify her from having a service dog, so the details will probably be moot. She could develop a disability or discover one, though. Or she could decide to pass Beverly off as a service dog to bring her places, knowing that this would make many service dog owners grouchy.