Mid Norfolk town council to ban offering pets as prizes

While it is still not against the law for goldfish and other live animals to be given away as prizes the practice has been frowned on.

But now a mid Norfolk town has voted to ban the tradition outright. 

Dereham Town Council decided unanimously on Tuesday to prohibit giving away pets as prizes on council-owned land.

Ray O’Callaghan, Dereham's deputy mayor, proposed that the council bans the giving away of live animals.

Mr O'Callaghan said: "I thought this was banned years ago but it isn't. Hopefully it will be soon in Dereham."

He added: "No live animals should be treated this way, especially goldfish, it's mass death."

Goldfish were handed out as prizes at a fair in London as recently as 2022. (Image: Archant Library)

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The motion was brought to the council's attention after a concerned constituent flagged that it was still legal to use pets as first-place prizes. 

In a recent survey from the RSPCA, this fact shocked 92pc of people in eastern England.

The RSPCA has now relaunched its campaign to call on the UK and Welsh governments to follow Scotland's lead and ban the practice.

In England and Wales, it is only illegal to give pets to children under the age of 16 if they are unaccompanied by an adult.

Less than a third of local authorities in England and Wales, which have the power to stop the activity on council-owned land, have already banned the practice including, according to the RSPCA, the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

Cllr Ray O'Callaghan hopes that giving away pets as prizes will soon be banned in Dereham. (Image: Denise Bradley)
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Since 2020, there have been 44 reports to the RSPCA involving more than 300 animals being given as prizes.

It is more commonplace for goldfish to be the victims of these exchanges.

The charity fears many incidents go unreported.