I was at a village fete today and saw 2 things that i thought might be animal welfare issues . Firstly , goldfish were being given as prizes and i thought that this had been ouylawed . Then secondly , ferret pups were being sold . Again , i thought that there was some issue with when and where animals can be sold .
Any ideas ?

ferrets have kits....not pups. Funnily enough I bought one today at a show....to replace 2 oldies who died this winter :( and to give a new line into our breeding.....I know the guy a bit that they came from and he usually has some nice stock and workers too which is the main thing :)

Unfortunately goldfish as prizes have not yet been stopped.  Only regulation is they cant be won by children unless an adult receives the prize for them.
As for ferrets not sure if there is any laws about that but if they were in good condition and not being stressed then can see anything wrong.  Guess it would be like anything else for sale on the day.

Emma

Poor fishy. :-(

Yep, well apparently fish are exempt from pretty much all welfare laws.. the only thing we really seem concerned about in teh UK is not allowing people to bring in certain species which, if released into our waters could be very dangerous to our native fish..

Otherwise... have at fishies and do your worst - buy an arowana for your home tank, regardless of the fact they grow to 3 or 4 feet long... or a pacu, they make over 2ft long.. but you can buy one from your local fish store for a few quid.... or piranha.. a schooling species mostly (there are some that are loners), preferring to live in large groups and a very very shy fish growing to around 1ft +... not suitable for the average home tank yet you can pick as many as you like up from most tropical fish shops with no questions asked...

When there are no penalties for trying to house an animal that needs to have 240gallons MINIMUM, in a 50gallon tank... is it surprising the lowly goldfish is not regarded worthy of some welfare rights?

Thanks for your replies - maybe we should start a ' Save the Goldfish ' campaign !!!!!!