Two councillors in Peasedown St John have given their support to the national RSPCA campaign to stop animals being given away as prizes at funfairs.

Fairs can evoke a sense of nostalgia for many, with fairground jingles, sugared doughnuts and arcade game prizes. Sadly, there's no fun at the fair for the animals given away as prizes.

Receiving goldfish as prizes has become commonplace at fairs across England and Wales, though not many are aware that this is the case.

According to a 2024 survey conducted by the RSPCA, 91 per cent of UK adults were shocked to discover that this still happens, and 79 per cent agree that local governments should step into stop this.

The law in England and Wales does ban the sale of pets as prizes to children under the age of 16, unless accompanied by an adult. This differs from the law in Scotland, where the practice is banned entirely.

Last July, the RSPCA relaunched its #NoFunAtTheFair campaign, urging local authorities to take action to protect animals, particularly goldfish, which are most often given away in such situations.

To date, more than 100 councils across England have implemented bans on pets being handed out as prizes on council-owned land. However, the charity is pushing for more councils to follow suit.

While all 22 local authorities in Wales have restricted this practice on council land, giving pets as prizes remains legal on privately-owned land in both Wales and England.

Cllr Karen Walker and Cllr Gavin Heathcote (Independents, Peasedown) said: “We’ve been contacted by many residents over the last few months, asking us to support the initiative - and we’re happy to do so.

“Currently in England and Wales, it's an offence to give animals away as a prize to anyone under the age of 16, unless accompanied by an adult. This differs from laws in other countries, for example Scotland, where it's an offence in almost all circumstances to give an animal away as a prize to anyone regardless of age.

“We’re going to be lobbying our local leaders, whether that’s at the council or our Members of Parliament, asking them to ban the practice in our area on all types of land – regardless of ownership.

“We also want to see changes to the Licensing Act to cover animal welfare too.”

Nearly 12,000 people have rallied behind the RSPCA’s #NoFunAtTheFair campaign so far, calling for a ban on the outdated practice of giving pets as prizes.