Posted: Thu 30th Jun 2022

Wrexham amongst five councils taking action on giving pets as prizes at fairgrounds

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jun 30th, 2022

Wrexham is amongst five councils across Wales to take action on pets being given as prizes at fairgrounds.

Since 2015, the RSPCA has had 147 calls across England and Wales about goldfish and other aquatic animals being given as prizes – with a small number of these calls coming in over the past two years.

Although reports have stalled since coronavirus restrictions began and shows stopped taking place – the RSPCA fear this will change this summer as fairgrounds and fetes return properly for 2022.

Five Welsh councils have shown their support to the animal welfare charity’s #NoFunAtTheFair campaign, which calls for the practice of fish being used as prizes.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council recently joined Newport City Council, Caerphilly County Borough Council, Wrexham County Borough Council and Conwy County Borough Council to take a stand against the practice.

The charity is urging other local authorities across Wales to act to stop the “outdated” practice of goldfish being kept in small plastic bags for long periods of time.

In the last year more than 9,000 RSPCA supporters called upon their local authority to make a change and stop this practice from happening on their land.

RSPCA Cymru’s public affairs manager, Chris O’Brien, said: “With Covid restrictions now completely eased in Wales, there’s a real risk that the giving of goldfish as prizes will return in big numbers as funfairs and festivals resume.

“We’re delighted that nearly a quarter of local authorities in Wales have banned the practice on their land already – but RSPCA Cymru will keep campaigning until this practice is consigned to the history books.

“Animal ownership is a big responsibility – and goldfish shouldn’t be acquired via a spur-of-the-moment game.

“Goldfish are easily stressed and very often fish that are won as prizes suffer miserably from shock, oxygen starvation or die from changes in water temperature, and many may die before their new owners can even get them home.

“They’re misunderstood pets – as they can make great companions; but can actually be challenging to look after and new owners must do their research before they acquire the fish, not afterwards.

“When bringing a fish home for the first time, it’s important to set the tank up at least two weeks in advance to make sure it’s all running smoothly, and this just isn’t possible for someone who’s won a fish without being prepared for it.”

In October 2019, the Welsh Government said “a separate piece of work” would happen on pets as prizes, indicating there is governmental will to act – but, as of yet, no further action has been taken.

RSPCA Cymru says it hopes the Welsh Government will work with local authorities and other stakeholders to reduce the number of pets such as goldfish being given away at fairgrounds and fetes, encourage local authorities to act themselves and introduce a national ban.

Chris added: “There’s huge momentum behind the RSPCA campaign – last year thousands of people supported us in this campaign and we’re over the moon to see nearly a quarter of local authorities in Wales already pass the RSPCA’s notice of motion on this issue.

“With new Councillors in place across Wales following May’s election, we hope many more will join them to make our counties even safer places for animals to live. We hope this summer our supporters will help us spread the message further and encourage local authorities to ban the giving of pets as prizes on their land.

“But ultimately, we need to see action nationally too. The Welsh Government suggested in 2019 they’d be keen to look at this issue – and we hope the momentum behind local bans on Council land will demonstrate the need for a nationwide ban too, on all land.”

To help the RSPCA continue rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals in desperate need of care please visit our website or call our donation line on 0300 123 8181.



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