# Goldfish as prizes



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

We have a travelling fair here and as usual they are giving away Goldfish as losers prizes. My daughter rang me very upset as some kids tried to let one go in a muddy oily puddle she also said she saw a few dead ones about. The fish arrived back here with about 3 inches of water and is now in a container upstairs until it can go in the tank in our sanctuary tomorrow
Why havent they stopped this practise and if I complain will anyone do anything and who do I complain too??


----------



## Mrs Mental (May 5, 2009)

:devil: things like that make my blood boil

You could ring your local council and speak to them and its normally them who give permission to site the fair. Fingers crossed the little guy you have will be okay


----------



## Grond (Jun 17, 2008)

I haven't seen goldfish as prizes for donkeys.

I thought it _was_ illegal......

Apparently not though.....

Uproar as goldfish remain legal prizes | Practical Fishkeeping magazine


----------



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Thanks Mrs M. My daughter is 20 and was really upset by it Im surorised she didnt try and drown the kids. She said there was a few fish bodies on the ground. I will ring the council on Monday but I think the fair leaves tomorrow


----------



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Its disgusting that they failed to stop this


----------



## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

you'll find this an interesting read: Uproar as goldfish remain legal prizes | Practical Fishkeeping magazine


----------



## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

How dreadful. :gasp:

Thankfully, it's never been common practice in Ireland but I had thought it was illegal in the UK now...:hmm:


----------



## LEOPARD GECKO CRAZY (Aug 7, 2008)

*hi*

omg that is terrible. stupid:censor:

tbh they wouldnt give away other animals like hamsters and soo on as loser prizes then why goldfish they must feel pain to!

i went to a fair once and they were iveing away goldfish and i have about 20 goes ! 

and gave all of the goldfish to my mate who has a large tank .

i just feel so sorry for those guys.

letting them die in a puddle :censor:

thats :censor: discusting


----------



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

daftlassieEmma said:


> you'll find this an interesting read: Uproar as goldfish remain legal prizes | Practical Fishkeeping magazine


 
Yes I read this, I dont understand why these fish as prizes got left off the new welfare laws:bash:


----------



## Grond (Jun 17, 2008)

daftlassieEmma said:


> you'll find this an interesting read: Uproar as goldfish remain legal prizes | Practical Fishkeeping magazine


 
Snap!


----------



## Mrs Mental (May 5, 2009)

You're welcome. Even if the fair goes tomorrow it's worth reporting your complaint to go against next years decision to site the fair. Also it might be going to another site in the same council district. Good luck with it


----------



## ern79 (Jul 26, 2007)

i get asked about once a year if i can supply gold fish as prizes for a school or community fete, the trouble is, people just think its a bit of fun, i feel a bit mean when i refuse, i remember telling 2 lovely ladies why i wouldnt supply them and why it was wrong, they seemed so deflated as they were just looking to do something nice for the kids, shame people are so mis-guided, they were asking about having tanks to sell or also win as prizes, i could see they wanted to do the right thing but i told them about maturing a tank and how the fish would be stressed sitting around all day, people really think that keeping fish is juat about a container, water and fish.

Im sure the next person will happily sell a bulk lot of goldfish, i wish i could with a clear conscience, i wouldnt sell that lot for most peoples ponds!


----------



## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

I have seen at a few fairs now that when you win a fish you cant have it unless you buy a tank from them, which is like £5 for a handfull of gravel, some food and one of those plastic goldfish bowls thats wayyyy to small.

In the USA they do the same thing at fairs but you win betta fish rather than goldfish and people go home and put them in flower vases :devil: or kids put two together and watch then fight it out for entertainment :censor:


----------



## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

ern79 said:


> i get asked about once a year if i can supply gold fish as prizes for a school or community fete, the trouble is, people just think its a bit of fun, i feel a bit mean when i refuse, i remember telling 2 lovely ladies why i wouldnt supply them and why it was wrong, they seemed so deflated as they were just looking to do something nice for the kids, shame people are so mis-guided, they were asking about having tanks to sell or also win as prizes, i could see they wanted to do the right thing but i told them about maturing a tank and how the fish would be stressed sitting around all day, people really think that keeping fish is juat about a container, water and fish.
> 
> Im sure the next person will happily sell a bulk lot of goldfish, i wish i could with a clear conscience, i wouldnt sell that lot for most peoples ponds!


Next year try offering them vouchers* that the parents can bring in for the prizes, it means you can give them the right information when they come in your shop and will allow the parent to make an informed decision. Plus it gives you a bit more publicity and you may end up selling more stock like food, tank accessories etc..

*May want to include a disclaimer allowing you to refuse to 'sell' to complete numptys....maybe not worded exactly like that though.


----------



## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Fixx said:


> Next year try offering them vouchers* that the parents can bring in for the prizes, it means you can give them the right information when they come in your shop and will allow the parent to make an informed decision.


Good idea. : victory:


----------



## reptismail (Nov 15, 2008)

i was walking homw from the fair and at the bottom of the hill i foud one stillalive in its bag and i took it home, um sed that the chavs throw them ofthe hillevery year


----------



## quilson_mc_spike (Dec 27, 2008)

i to thought they made this illeagal when they put on the age restrictions to buying from petshops clearly not it realy upsetes me when this happens and to them idiots who did it should hang their head in shame because thats disgusting like shell said im supprized her daughter didnt drown them did she by anychance inform them of the wron thing that they have done?if it was me i would have bleeding gave them the mouthful a few of the members on here would like to do because there is not a single thing to prove they where doing well

if this was a hamster lets say and they were letting them loose all over the streets the ban would then become compulsery and the whole thing of kids letting them out would be stopped at a deadline because if you remove the source of them getting their hands on the animal to release it then there will be no way of them being harmed and the animals welfare will become before the childrens amusements

(sorry for any spelling mistakes)

i hope im correct :blush: 

Mc Spike x


----------



## Reptilover (Jan 15, 2007)

*Every year in South Elmsall at Christmas there is a christmas fair all the way through the village, rides, burger vans etc including the famous "Huck a duck", the prizes... Goldfish. *

*Also a few times a year there is a fair on the Green in kirkby near by, goldfish are also given away as prizes there.*

*The worst thing about it the people who actually do this are completely stupid, a goldfish an be bought for around 90p, each go at huck a duck is £2. *

*:bash:*


----------



## Omerov1986 (Feb 11, 2009)

its a REAL good job this isnt by me, otherwise i would be in jail by now, easily, for murder.... not jokin in the slightest. 

gordon brown didnt pass this law to protect goldfish from stupid [email protected] like chavs, i mean how does this even pass or bypass the 2007 animal welfare act? 

fks sake... 
:war::war::war::war::cussing::cussing::cussing::cussing::cussing::2wallbang::2wallbang::blowup::blowup::blowup::blowup::naughty:


----------



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

*Rescued Goldfish now rehomed*

This fish has now been rehomed to a responsible owner where it will be quarantined in a full tank set up on its own then will join the other small goldfish in a lovely pond:no1:


My daughter did point out to the morons with the fish that this was not acceptable but being 20 years old she wasnt as polite as this:whistling2:
I have a few other people ringing the council tomorrow to complain, lets hope they will stop this fair offering fish as prizes when they next visit. May I suggest that everyone who see fairs etc giving prizes of goldfish to complain in there own areas and this way WE may be able to change the fate of our golden friends

Thanks to all who replied:2thumb:


----------



## quilson_mc_spike (Dec 27, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> May I suggest that everyone who see fairs etc giving prizes of goldfish to complain in there own areas and this way WE may be able to change the fate of our golden friends
> 
> Thanks to all who replied:2thumb:


this will be done when the fair reterns :bash:xoxo

Mc Spike x


----------



## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

I thought that it was illegal aswell!.. Anyway, I would class it as animal cruetly, for a start they aren't signing any paper's about buying the animal (which pet shops do, and i believe is illegal to not do so), also, they are giving an animal away without any information regarding care. stupid, stupid, stupid!.


----------



## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

We have fairs giving away gold fish round here with distressing regularity. now for some of the local pet shops this is a great money spinner as parents bring their sprogs in asking for the cheapest tank, food, decore etc... For us its a nightmare. We WONT sell a tank less than 35 litres for a gold fish and even that is far too small (but frankly better than the assortment of receptacles people often announce that the fish is currently living in). With regard to the law, the only thing that HAS been changed is that they cannot now hold the fish ready bagged and suspended in the air around the stall. They must now be held in airated containers. Because of course an airstone is *perfectly* able to break down ammonia.... 
If i had a pound for every person that had stormed out of the shop because we wont sell them a "plain bowl" or a friend to live with said fair fish in an unfiltered container I could actually retire! And contrary to the belief I am refusing the sale of a fish or tiny tank because i enjoy making children cry, I'm not... I'm doing it because i give two hoots.

The analogy I always use is this - imagine the uproar should the fairs decide that puppies make great pets. The law dictates that they mustn't be suspended in the air but must be held in cages with windows for their comfort... 

Its disgusting. its not often i want to make ANY aspect of animal keeping outlawed because as we all well know there are a few people out there that just love to see animal keeping become a little more frowned upon but in this instance its disgusting that even after the revision of the animal welfare act we are still innundated with misinformed punters thinking that a pint pot and a bunch of elodea consitutes a comfy home for their goldfish and that by managing to keep it alive for two years means it died of old age. 
just BAN it and save us and the poor bloody goldfish from the distress it causes. 
oh.... and the line i so often get from parents of "oh, but the kids cried when we said they couldn't have one"... jesus guys, give the kid a rollocking and tell it to get over itself!!

Of course if the fairs wanna start giving away ready cycled 70+ litre tanks complete with adequate filtration etc... well, who am i to stand in their way...


ah... but i'm forgetting something; "It's only a fish."


Kat


----------



## ReefKeeper (Jan 16, 2009)

I think the owner of Pets at Home must be linked to the fair ... Both need a royal kick up the backside for what they sell!.

Good on you Kat for refusing to sell small tanks, For me its your kinda practice that makes me spend or not spend when i walk into a shop.

I wish more shops would addapt this attitude, Coz one hell of alot dont.:gasp:


----------



## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

arr this makes me soo angry people do this at the fair near me every year.... i thought it was illegal but even if it is then they wont stop. every year i see teenagers take the fish on the rollercoaster and lob the fish in the bags off the top of the ride! arrrr:bash:
stu


----------



## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

> Good on you Kat for refusing to sell small tanks, For me its your kinda practice that makes me spend or not spend when i walk into a shop.
> 
> I wish more shops would addapt this attitude, Coz one hell of alot dont.:gasp:


So do I! unfortunately we often end up picking up the peices after another shop has given some one appaling advise. I think that people just assume that because they are given a goldfish with no advice what so ever that they have absolutly no requirements and will thrive in whatever they are given. I had a lady today tell me her goldfish was getting old (it is three). The look on her face when i told her it was still practically a baby was priceless... Goldfish have to be the epitome of "disposible" pets. 

Kat


----------



## Fangio (Jun 2, 2007)

As much as I hate to say it......this is how I first started keeping fish.:blush:

It was about 22 or so years ago though, when I was little, so didn't know any better. I don't agree with it in the slightest, and I'm glad there are shops out there which won't sell small bowls etc.


----------



## Twiglet (May 6, 2009)

> As much as I hate to say it......this is how I first started keeping fish.:blush:


I expect there's alot of other knowledgeable peeps can say the same thing. I know i had a goldfish from a fair some years ago (I called it "herpes" because it looked diseased)
Herpes the goldfish lasted a grand total of two weeks in a 14 liter tank with no filtration. how guilty do i feel now, knowing what i do! Its not the people doing the winning at fault, they are (as in my case) simply ignorant. not that that makes it acceptible mind. 
as for kids lobbing fish off rides... thats disgusting. seriously, who thinks that kind of treatment is anything other that cruel. 
oh how i hate children. :whip:

Kat

Kat


----------



## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

Fangio said:


> As much as I hate to say it......this is how I first started keeping fish.:blush:
> 
> It was about 22 or so years ago though, when I was little, so didn't know any better. I don't agree with it in the slightest, and I'm glad there are shops out there which won't sell small bowls etc.


 
same hear mind you I put the fish I won into a pond not a small bowl


----------



## Daxus (May 5, 2009)

When I was younger I won a fish at a festival stall on Saint Patrick's Day...it was the first and only time I ever saw live fish being used as a prize in Northern Ireland, thank god. 

My aunt kept so she helped us set him up and he lived for a good few years... 

There is an Office shoe store in town that has a huge fish, with a lovely big swishy tail in literally a tiny bowl and it makes me so sad anytime I am there.


----------



## Caz (May 24, 2007)

Awwww - saw the title and wondered how I could win one.


----------



## IndigoFire (Apr 11, 2009)

I like the voucher idea, i got my goldfish at the last fair that gave them away as prizes in my town - I haven't seen one since! My fish (Dorothy - Called by my little sister after the fish in the tv programe Elmo) As I said it was the LAST fair that gave them away - this was around 3/4 years ago. Its now living in a tank in my lounge lovely and happy, we stare at each other...(XD) I did win two, but the other one died about a year ago =[!

I hope that they do stop giving them away to. This just gives me another reason to dislike chavs aswell. How insensitive, your daughter should have drowned them in the oily puddle. I would have attempted to. Lol


----------



## fatbloke (Apr 6, 2008)

thats nouthing u should go to spain thay give away a choice of iggies chicks lil rabbits or ducklings


----------



## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

fatbloke said:


> thats nouthing u should go to spain thay give away a choice of *iggies* chicks lil rabbits or ducklings


What on earth is an *iggie*?? :hmm:


----------



## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

Trillian said:


> What on earth is an *iggie*?? :hmm:


 iguana : victory:


----------



## fatbloke (Apr 6, 2008)

daftlassieEmma said:


> iguana : victory:


 cheers emma my spelling sucks


----------



## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

fatbloke said:


> cheers emma my spelling sucks


 nah, i tend to call em iggies for short too :flrt:


----------



## fatbloke (Apr 6, 2008)

daftlassieEmma said:


> nah, i tend to call em iggies for short too :flrt:


 great minds think alike lol


----------



## louodge (Sep 26, 2008)

i won a goldfish on the fair last year he is doing great he lives in my sons bedroom and his name is spike.

no although i have one from the fair i dont agree with it really 

the pond i fish near me is a pond in the middle of a field that has a fair every year and this pond has gold fish over 4lbs and apparently it has the uk record for a fantailed goldfish so i wonder how they got there


----------



## sugarbunny891 (Feb 10, 2009)

Where i live we have the fair about twice a year come to visit, I remember as kids when we used to go it was "tradtion" to put them in our village pond if we won one, (they were never loser prizes) , I have heard the kids still do it round here now, in the summer the pond is packed with small kids fishing catching the goldfish that have been in there for years! They have grown bigger! And to this day i swear last year i saw a young lad catch my fish i won a good 5 years ago!!


----------



## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

the kid i look after at the week end won a goldfish this week at the fair.


----------



## mahender (Apr 28, 2008)

surely all you people on here opposing the sale of fish at fairs also oppose fishing.

i do think it is wrong to give away the little fishies but i think for some on here i have read it is a bit hypocritical.

i never have been told the thrill of fishing and what pleasure is gained from it so if someone wishes to enlighten me that would be cool.

imo, fishing is a lazy mans excuse for doing nothing.


----------



## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

mahender said:


> surely all you people on here opposing the sale of fish at fairs also oppose fishing.
> 
> i do think it is wrong to give away the little fishies but i think for some on here i have read it is a bit hypocritical.
> 
> ...


 lmao

i do enjoy fishing, my only intention in doing so though is to eat anything i catch, small fish are let go

what i hate is when you go to a nice river and there's loads of small dead fish just lying around where people have killed them for the sake of it :devil:


----------



## mahender (Apr 28, 2008)

daftlassieEmma said:


> lmao
> 
> i do enjoy fishing, my only intention in doing so though is to eat anything i catch, small fish are let go
> 
> *what i hate is when you go to a nice river and there's loads of small dead fish just lying around where people have killed them for the sake of it :devil:*


does that happen.
wow that is blatantly wrong.
if you are gonna eat it then cool. but otherwise what is the point of it?

unless it is about some dudes need to dominate and capture animals.

please feel free to enlighten peeps.
thanks.


----------



## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

mahender said:


> does that happen.
> wow that is blatantly wrong.
> if you are gonna eat it then cool. but otherwise what is the point of it?
> 
> ...


 there's a dam just up the road from me, we went up one night and there was a load of wee perch just lying around on the grass  not to mention all the fishing line lying around and the rubbish from their lunch...


----------

