Fair future – no goldfish prizes

Royal Borough: RSPCA delighted after unanimous ban

The RSPCA has expressed its delight after councillors unanimously agreed to ban the use of live animals as prizes at a meeting last week.

As a result of the decision, the Royal Borough become the 29th local authority in England to pass regulations on the practice.

Brought forward by Cllr Phil Haseler (Con, Cox Green), the motion called for the council to agree ‘to ban outright the giving of live animals as prizes in any form’ across the borough, and ‘requested the cabinet member for anti-social behaviour, crime, and public protection to write to the UK Government urging an outright ban’ across the country on private and public land.

Under Scottish law, the practice is illegal except within the family context; however, in England, animals can be given as prizes to anyone above the age of 16, unless a local authority passes a motion banning it.

At the meeting on

Tuesday, November 22, Cllr Haseler said he brought the motion to council as a

‘direct result’ of residents asking him to do so as well as due to concerns from the RSPCA.

He added: “Animal ownership is a big responsibility that needs to be planned and well thought out in order to provide the best quality of life for that animal, not a spur of the moment event resulting from a game.

“While a range of animals are given as prizes each year, goldfish are the animal most commonly associated with pets as prizes, although the RSPCA tell me that incidents involving ducklings, dogs and horses being given as prizes have also been reported.

“Goldfish suffer miserably from shock, oxygen starvation or die from changes in water temperature, and many will die before their owners can get them home.”

Cllr Helen Taylor (tBFI, Oldfield) said that she ‘absolutely 100 per cent’ supported the motion, but expressed concerns over policing.

“I’m sure those details obviously will have to be looked into, but with fairs that travel around different boroughs [and] so many different fairs’, it does just worry me how we’re going to make that happen without the main law from central Government that we’re trying to get through,” said Cllr Taylor.

In response, Cllr Haseler said other councils were restricting the giving of pets as prizes through their licensing structure, and that it would be ‘much, much easier’ to enforce once the practice was outlawed nationally.

“The whole point of this is raising awareness of the public, and I know there will be people out there going around fairs, and if they see pets being given as prizes, they will soon be on the blower to report it to the authorities,” Cllr Haseler added.