Service Animals

RantWoman is digesting many circumstances from her recent journey to Quaker summer camp, the Annual Session of North Pacific Yearly Meeting. One event that RantWoman finds it very easy to write up quickly and with deep gratitude is the continuing evolution of the service animal concern RantWoman was called to raise over the last year in connection with Quarterly Meeting.

Annual Session always includes plenty of meetings which are convenient because those involved are already assembled in one place. One example is the quarterly meeting of representatives from Monthly Meetings and Worship Groups in Pacific Northwest Quarterly Meeting. RantWoman does not currently have any reason to go to this meeting except to follow up on her concerns about service dogs.

The recent meeting featured:

--thoughtful detailed research by our registrar.

--clear guidance as to the law.

--clear recognition by Friends that service dogs, people with allergies, and a host of other difficulties are to be accommodated in our gatherings.

RantWoman in addition notes particular gratitude and appreciation for:

--the many gifts and steadfast service of our registrar.

--space to discuss the question without either the hurt of past incidents or any specific current situations.

--the presence of the right combination of people in the room. RantWoman learned during a ministry of car ride moment that service dogs had in fact come up previously at this body. Everyone there thought "why should there be any problem." RantWoman is humble because she had not spelled out the previous past incident at the point of the meeting in February. Other people able to speak to other points also were not present previously. RantWoman is so grateful all the needed people and information lined up this time around!

RantWoman is SO GRATEFUL to share this burden. RantWoman feels very humble about the extent to which her saying "make it so" was picked up by others who could be calmer and interact more incisively than RantWoman could.

Finally, in case RantWoman's readers think they are going to make it through an entire post without engaging RantWoman's ranting proclivities at least once, RantWoman presents a real live apparent service animal moment from the Annual Session dining experience.

Ambassador Thwack was made to work once in the cafeteria but he was unhelpful as to the main vexations of that realm and RantWoman opted just to indulge his bent toward indolence. For RantWoman's trouble she got to be grateful several times to avoid a small though thankfully well-behaved dog on a leash which RantWoman can only assume is some kind of a service dog. Of course according to the law there is no way to ask. RantWoman darn well HOPES it's some kind of service dog because if she ever trips over the hound and breaks her face.... (Okay, easy, breathe, center...be glad the aggravation level is merely about average.)