Man’s best friend soon might have no place among crowds at Glen Ellyn Park District events.

The Park Board will discuss Tuesday, Aug. 21, a policy change to encourage owners not to bring dogs to park events, such as recreational baseball games, as well as annual gatherings like the Great Cardboard Boat Regatta.

The new measure would not be an enforced ordinance. Rather, park officials are hoping people will comply voluntarily.

“I think I’ll probably still see a dog,” Executive Director Cory Atwell said. “But if the dog has a leash and it’s far enough away from the action, I don’t think it’ll be an issue.”

Park commissioners discussed the policy during a workshop meeting last week, and they seem likely to move forward on it. If adopted, the change would be indicated in the Park District’s brochures, and dog owners would be informed in person at the events.

“What we’ll do is go up to people and say, ‘Please, in the future, could you not bring your dog?’” said Recreation Superintendent Kathleen Esposito.

Should dog owners disregard the voluntary policy, officials might in the future consider more stringent enforcement.

The next course of action would be to implement a definitive ordinance, much like the policy against driving cars onto park property, that would be enforced by police, Atwell said.

“I’m hoping none of that is necessary,” he added.

No specific incident spurred the board to introduce the policy, but rather it grew out of general worries of possible accidents.

Park officials were concerned that the commotion at some events could lead to unpredictable animal behavior and dire consequences, especially for small children among the crowd, Atwell said.

“Some of these dogs are as large as them, and that’s a situation you don’t want to have,” he said.

Since last year the district has had a similarly voluntary policy against dogs at league soccer games, which Atwell said has been successful so far this season.

Officials targeted only soccer with that policy because they believed the amount of running in the sport and the lack of fences on a soccer field would embolden rampant dogs. The new policy would address all recreational sports.

“The board really doesn’t have an issue with taking your dog to a park,” Atwell said. “It’s just when we have these events where you have 6,000 people or the Fourth of July fireworks, that’s not the place to bring your dog.”