# Animals in sports **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2002, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202 "2002-05-15T17:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/1 "2002-05-15T17:42:54Z")
Okay, another example of this board being a piece of shit today. ANYWAY, recently in news, a major league baseball game was halted for a bit because a cat got onto the field and they had to chase it down. In high school, one of our football games had to come to a halt because a dog got on the field. So it got me wondering: Has anyone ever been to a sporting event halted because a pig, or some other animal got onto the field? Dogs and cats are simple, I’m thinking more like a cow, a chicken, a wolverine, something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/2 "2002-05-15T20:03:14Z")
I haven’t been to one but I’ve seen on TV baseball games interrupted by a swarm of insects, a skunk, and (IIRC) fog of pollen. ---
**Author:** ![Iguana\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@Iguana\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iguana_Boy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/3 "2002-05-15T21:49:10Z")
On TV, I’ve seen a cricket game halted because a seagull got stunned by a ball (it was on the ground basking in the sun at the time) and a football (soccer) game interrupted by a fox running onto the field. Nothing in real life though. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/4 "2002-05-15T23:13:26Z")
At Rugby internationals the French fans usually throw a live cockerel onto the field but the game tends to go on around it (in spite of the risk of it being crushed to death). There have been [one](http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_405000/405028.stm) or [two](http://maxpages.com/wanderers/Wolfie) incidents of animal violence at football matches in Critain, but I’m not sure if a fist fight between a man in a wolf costume and the three little pigs are what you are looking for? Hereford football club have a real bull as their mascot and I’m sure its toilet arrangements must have caused some inconvenience before the kick-off, but it has never stopped a game that I’m aware of. I’ve sometimes prayed that a game _would_ be stopped because there were donkeys on the field - but they were only the players. ---
**Author:** ![Tortuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@Tortuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tortuga)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/5 "2002-05-16T06:16:15Z")
Alex Stein and his dog Ashley Whippet ran on to the field at Dodgers Stadium in LA, August 4, 1974 and started the whole Frisbee dog thing. She jumped as high as nine feet, ran her fastest (for whippets, 35 mph) and apparently, just blew everybody away for eight minutes, interrupting the game. I would have loved to have seen it. It was huge then, and it’s huge in the dog world now, every disc dog knows who Ashley is. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/6 "2002-05-16T13:29:27Z")
In horse racing, you _expect_ animals to be involved. However, all you expect are equines–sometimes we’ve gotten more than we bargained for. There’s a story of, years ago, an _alligator_ coming out of one of Hialeah’s infield lakes and strolling on to the track. You can guarantee that put a pause in the day’s racing schedule. I’ve also seen footage where a few deer spurt onto the track, from the infield again, and get _run over_ by the racing horses. The doe simply got right back up and sprinted off. The racing notes for the interfered equine said something to the effect of “was moving forwardly on the far turn when had to check when struck by a deer…” Definitely not things you see everyday. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/7 "2002-05-16T15:33:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Iguana Boy \* > **On TV, I’ve seen a cricket game halted because a seagull got stunned by a ball (it was on the ground basking in the sun at the time) and a football (soccer) game interrupted by a fox running onto the field.** That reminds me, there’s been at least one instance of a waterfowl being hit by a baseball while in flight. ---
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/8 "2002-05-16T15:47:21Z")
I’m pretty sure an NHL game was interrupted while a bunch of people chased a bat flying over the ice. Remember when Habs fans used to throw live chickens and dead octopus (or was it squid) onto the ice? ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/9 "2002-05-16T16:23:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*That reminds me, there’s been at least one instance of a waterfowl being hit by a baseball while in flight. \*\* Aha! That might explain the seagull, I saw on TV, that stole a golfball and dropped it in a nearby water trap. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/10 "2002-05-16T19:43:00Z")
I saw a bird-strike in a motorcycle race once. actually, it was only like last month or something. thing flew out of the grass and got nailed. nothing but a cloud of feathers. didn’t faze the rider too much, as it only hit the bike. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/11 "2002-05-16T21:27:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*That reminds me, there’s been at least one instance of a waterfowl being hit by a baseball while in flight. \*\* Randy Johnson hit a bird with a pitch a year or so back. Flew right in front of the plate just after he released the ball. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/12 "2002-05-16T23:23:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Elvis Rojo \* > \*\*Okay, another example of this board being a piece of shit today. ANYWAY, recently in news, a major league baseball game was halted for a bit because a cat got onto the field and they had to chase it down. \*\* Does anyone know what happened to that cat? I saw the picture of the guy carrying it off the field after it was caught, but nothing else. He wasn’t carrying it very nicely (looked like he had it around the neck) and I felt bad for the cat. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![mkmiller99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@mkmiller99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkmiller99)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/13 "2002-05-17T07:39:43Z")
**Boscibo** It is a shame when a small animal’s well being takes time away from multi-million dollar athletes getting to hit a ball and run. :rolleyes: You would think that the player shown taking the cat off the field would’ve at least had the decency to pretend that he wasn’t put out by the cat’s presence. (my my, I am in quite a mood) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/14 "2002-05-17T17:04:20Z")
Back in the spring of 1976, when the Yankees first moved back into Yankee Stadium (they spent a few seasons at Shea, while Yankee Stadium was being renovated), somebody turned loose a live piglet on the field! I recall that somebody had painted to words “Go Yogi!” on the pig’s sides. HOW anybody got a pig into the stadium baffles me to this day. I remember clearly that Yogi Berra (who had just returned to the Yankees, as Billy Martin’s bench coach) laughed it off, but said he’d really have liked to have the pig… to barbecue! - If you’re only concerned about actual wild animals, though, Fox sports likes to rebroadcast footage of an opossum running around the football field at Oregon State. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-in-sports/109202/15 "2002-05-18T01:26:37Z")
NASCAR Winston Cup races at Pocono Speedway in Pennsylvania were regularly interrupted by wildlife. Bobby Allison once was leading a race with only a few laps to go when he hit a rabbit. It damaged the front air dam of the car and he ended up finishing 3rd.