Bolton Council calls on government to ban pets as prizes

It comes after a motion by Liam Barnard, a councillor for Little Lever and Darcy Lever, was supported by colleagues unanimously at a meeting at the town hall last week.

Cllr Barnard asked for the council to support a Pets as Prizes RSPCA campaign, and to write to the government asking them to to ban the awarding of pets as prizes, in particular fish at fairgrounds and other events.

Currently the practice is banned by a number of authorities across England and Wales but not nationally.

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Cllr Barnard said: “When I was younger my brother and I went to the fairground and he won a goldfish.

“When he was 18 he still had it in the tank. Whether it was the same goldfish I am not 100 per cent sure.

“However, these days it is a different matter because if somebody went to a fairground and won a fish, their parents could not afford to buy the tank because of the cost of living crisis. 

“I hope the council supports me in this motion to ban it.”

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He was supported by colleagues unanimously at a meeting at the town hall but Conservative councillor Adele Warren said the council committed to cut out the practice a long time ago.

She said this commitment started with a motion by Lib Dem councillor Roger Hayes more than 30 years ago as well as with a cross-party ‘animal aid' charter in 2010.

Cllr Warren said: “The council should be proud because this has been a policy for many, many years.

“We have no problem supporting this motion and signing up to the campaign but I think we should be proud because it has been a condition of licensing for a long time.”

Cllr Hayes, who is now the leader of the Lib Dems, added: “How many times have I seen a child being given a goldfish in a bag with a bit of water? The goldfish is not going to last more than an hour or two probably. 

“I am delighted to be supporting this motion even though I believe it is a restatement of what is already policy.”

A spokesperson for the the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said: “It is an offence to sell or transfer an animal as a prize to anyone under the age of 16 years old.

“We are clear that if anyone has any concerns about the welfare of an animal that is being used as a prize, then they should report the matter to the relevant local authority, who have the necessary powers to investigate.”

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.