Pitch doggies . . .

[chopper15]

Not quite non- rugby, but . . . .

On this morning's BBC Five Live a rugby ref. in Oxford was recounting a problem he had with an elderly lady throwing sticks on the pitch for her dog and got quite aggressive when he politely asked her to move away.

How should this be managed?

The pitch as I understood it was in a public park. And what about checking for dog shite before the start?

We never used to bother if it was cow shite. A local club once had an outbreak of skin complaints and it was traced to the grass dressing . . . pig manure.

 

[OB..]

On this morning's BBC Five Live a rugby ref. in Oxford was recounting a problem he had with an elderly lady throwing sticks on the pitch for her dog and got quite aggressive when he politely asked her to move away.

How should this be managed?

The pitch as I understood it was in a public park.

If the pitch is in a public park, it has been provided by the local council for use as a rugby pitch. Other park users do not have any right to use it when an official match is being played.

This came up back in the 80s when I was coaching mini-rugby. Some local lads were playing soccer on the area marked out for rugby and tried to argue that they got there first. We were paying rent to the council for the pitch and they eventually backed down.

I suggest the home team should talk to her diplomatically. After all, they are likely to run into the problem again if they don't deal with it now.

And what about checking for dog shite before the start?

Not uncommon in many local clubs, even though they are not public parks. Happened twice in my match today - usual chap on the sidelines with pooper-scooper.

 

[SimonSmith]

OB's is the right answer. Which is better than my pipedream of "fair enough love. Hope we don't run over the dog. Rough game, rugby" *knowing smile*

 

[Taff]

OB's is the right answer. Which is better than my pipedream of "fair enough love. Hope we don't run over the dog. Rough game, rugby" *knowing smile*

While watching a documetary about a Lions tour to New Zealand (back in the 70s) in one of the tests a dog ran onto the pitch at a LO IIRC. As the ball was passed down the backs it got hit by an All Black and sent sprawling. I wonder what happened to it?

As an aside, don't underestimate dog shit. Back in the 80s the doctor reckons I got "infected" by some. I was in such a mess, I didn't leave the house for 2 days. :frown:

 

[Ricardowensleydale]

Toxocariasis is an infestation of humans with the larvae of Toxocara canis, a small threadlike worm that resides in a dog's intestine. Play with soil contaminated with its faeces and you can then inadvertently put their fingers in their mouths and can swallow some of the worm eggs. The swallowed eggs hatch in the intestine and liberate larvae, which then travel towards the liver, lungs, brain and eyes. Campylobacter bacterium causes intestinal infections and can be transferred easily from dogs to humans. This happens easily when people do not wash their hands properly after coming into contact with animal faeces. It causes abdominal cramping and pain, diarrhoea, which is sometimes bloody, nausea and vomiting, as well as fever are all symptoms of this kind of bacterial infection, which can cause severe dehydration......and many more.

 

[Bronze Whaler]

Our pitches are private property but accessible from a main road and partly surrounded by a housing estate. We're plagued by the socially inept dog walker (or should that be crapper?) Only this morning I removed the world's largest walnut whip from our main pitch. They don't always get away with it, some of our first team were camping pitch-side after a team-building exercise when they surprised a guy 'walking' his dogs at 4 a.m. They chased him off the pitch and he reported them to the local constabulary for threatening behaviour. They sent a couple of big lads to interview our boys, who were happy to confess "Oh, that would be the bloke taking his dogs for a crap on our pitch".
"Nuff said", replied the boys in blue "We'll have a word".
He's not been back since as far as we know:norc:

 

[Gareth]

In South Africa, we don't have that. It wouldn't be looked after and wouldn't be painted and the some day but during the night when the post are put up, you'll get homeless people tacking them down to take to scrap metal.

 

[Simon Thomas]

sounds just like Coney Hill or Dings Crusaders here in England.

easy job compared to a 600m length of copper cable from the trains' overhead power lines :norc:

 

[Ian_Cook]

We had a similar problem at our golf club, and not just people walking dogs, but joggers as well. There are numerous access points where people can just walk onto the course unseen.

It all came to a head one Saturday when a dog walker wandered onto the Par 4 No. 3 fairway, parts of which are not visible from the tee-box. The woman was struck by a golf ball, and as we made our way over the rise, we were met by the woman who was furious and aggressive (and the dogs she was walking were aggressive too, growling and snarling). Explaining to her that we can't see that part of the fairway did nothing, and telling her that the golf course was private property and that she shouldn't even be on it made her even worse. She came out with the "I've been walking dogs here for 30 years.... blah, blah, nlah....." line.

She reported the incident to the Police, who promptly issued her with a trespass notice and told her not to ever take her dogs onto the golf course again. The Police advised us to erect warning signs at all the likely access points., which we did.