Weird random question, and apologies for the strange topic and if this is in the wrong section.

So, recently I've had a player ask me completely ludicrous questions regarding what happens if a polar bear attacks your opponent. But it did get me thinking about service animals and situations that could come up with them (again, weird logic jump).

What happens in the unlikely event a service animal loses calm and attacks someone at the event? Obviously, if a player is rendered incapable of continuing play they're assumed to have forfeited the match, but what of the animal's owner? Do they face any penalties for failing to control their animal? Or is the priority on ensuring everyone is safe first, handling infractions later?

Edited Hank Wiest (Dec. 12, 2016 12:51:31 PM)

Focus on safety, and make sure legal matters are addressed (and you'll get little legal advice here, especially since this is an international forum). If it happened at my local shop, I suspect the police would be called.

As a reminder: it is possible for the TO (or: you after consulting with the TO) to remove a player from the venue (and thus the event), without it officially being a Disqualification (and it still might be appropriate, depending on circumstances, for a DQ to be issued here).

I think this scenario is both unlikely, and far too context dependent, to give a precise answer.

Service animals are very highly trained - a player is more likely to bite someone than a service animal is :D

If someone's service animal has for some reason attacked someone, it's extremely unlikely that the owner is going to want to continue in the event anyway - they need their animal to be “working” normally, so may not be able to take part anyway, and they're going to be far more worried about the animal than interested in continuing to play.