Many folks love their pets--and rightly so; animals can add so much to our lives. However, there are certain places animals can not be allowed to roam, and a youth soccer field is definitely one of those places. To begin with, our field use permits generally do not allow animals--namely dogs--at our practice and/or playing fields. More importantly, animals pose a safety hazard. Not just because of the possibility of a bite, but also due to the ever-present danger of animals relieving themselves on the field where children play; imagine a child falling in the wrong place, and you can understand our reasons for not even allowing leashed dogs around the fields!

Some referees may be wondering how to handle dogs on the field. To avoid problems, we'd like all referees to use the following steps in dealing with on-field animals:

• Referees who see a dog should ascertain which 'side' the dog belongs to. That is, the dog most likely belongs to the parent or sibling of one of the players on the team.
• At the next natural stop in play (ball out-of-bounds, a scored goal an injury, etc.), the referee should approach the coach of that team, pull him/her aside, and gently explain the 'no dog' policy, and ask the coach to ask the parent to remove the animal; the referee should not speak directly with the spectator.
• After a reasonable amount of time--say, two minutes--the referee should look to see if the dog is indeed gone. If so, let the match continue. But if not...
• At the next natural stop in play, the referee should approach the coach again, pull him or her aside again, and state that the dog must be removed or the match will be terminated.
• After another two minutes of play, the referee should check to see if the dog is gone. If so, let the match continue, but if not...
• The referee is to immediately blow the whistle three times and calmly declare the match over. The only thing the referee should state--and then only if asked--is that the game was terminated because of dangerous playing conditions (a very true statement). The referee should NOT engage in an argument with either coach at this point, and should NOT engage the spectators directly. The referee should be professional and courteous while he/she gathers the game cards, obtains signatures from the assistant referees, and makes detailed notes on the card of exactly what happened before turning those cards over to the officials.

NOTE 1:
A terminated match cannot be restarted. That is, once a match has been officially terminated, even if the animal is removed at that point, the game is over for good, and no amount of begging or pleading or cajoling or out-and-ou bribery should allow it to be restarted.

NOTE 2:
Sometimes a spectator will remove a dog for, say, 15 minutes, then return to a different part of the sideline hoping the referee will forget about the first incident, or will simply not see the animal. Referees don't need to worry about rememberering if the dog they're seeing is the same one they saw originally; a dog is a dog is a dog where Ojai Valley AYSO Region 147 is concerned, so even if steps #2 and #4 are dealing with separate dogs, the procedure should still be followed.