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It is still legal to give away gold fish as prizes at fair grounds. The draft Animal Welfare Bill was thought to pass through to make it illegal for goldfish to be given away as prizes at fairgrounds. Patricia Hewitt, the environment secretary dropped this from the new legislation.

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Instead, the new Animal Welfare bill allows goldfish to be given away as prizes to children if accompanied by someone over the age of 16. But some local authorities have already banned the use of goldfish as prizes in their area. This decision was made due to the pressure from animal rights protestors.

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Funfair or fete stall holders who give children under 16 goldfish as prizes could be jailed for up to a year under the new animal protection laws. The same sentence would apply to pet shop owners unless the child is accompanied by an adult.

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Gold fish are kept in poor conditions at fair grounds and are no better once they are in the company of the prize winners’ hands. Fish need to be put in a tank or a spacious goldfish bowl and not in plastic bags with very little water. While some gold fish are lucky enough to live for 20 years or more, others unfortunately meet their death before they even make it to a bowl on the sideboard.

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Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said "We would strongly support a ban because when an animal is received as a prize, the winner gets it through chance rather than a conscious decision and there is little likelihood that consideration has been given to caring for it."

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Ben Bradshaw, the junior environment minister quoted on the BBC news that “a lot of goldfish end up on the compost heap” And before the legislation was dropped, Mr Bradshaw also quoted that “The banning of goldfish sends a message that buying a pet or owning a pet is an act of responsibility” and that having goldfish is based on decision and not “pot luck”.

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The idea of giving gold fish as prizes at fairgrounds was that of Billy Butlin (the holiday camp king) in the 1920s.

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