Can You Give a Live Goldfish as a Prize in Massachusetts?

The goldfish in a bag is the classic carnival prize, and in Massachusetts it is also the fact pattern in a statute. M.G.L. c. 272, sec. 80F says no person shall offer or give away any live animal as a prize or an award in a game, contest or tournament involving skill or chance, and whoever violates it is punished by a fine of not more than $100.

The section is written broadly on purpose

Any live animal. Not fish, not small animals, not pets. And the setting is a game, contest or tournament involving skill or chance, which takes in both the booth where aim decides the outcome and the one where luck does. The reason the goldfish is the famous example is that it is the one people have actually seen, not that the sentence singles it out.

Offering counts

Read the verbs. “Offer or give away.” The section does not wait for the animal to change hands. A booth that advertises a live animal as the prize is describing conduct the first verb already covers.

The one carve-out is about animal husbandry

Section 80F has a single exception written into it: the provisions do not apply to awards made to persons participating in programs relating to animal husbandry. That is the 4-H fair sitting alongside the midway, and the Legislature separated the two rather than leaving the question open.

What this page is not

This page describes what section 80F says. It does not say how the section is enforced at any particular event, whether a specific prize arrangement falls inside it, or how a court would treat a given set of facts. Read the section yourself at the link above, and for a real situation, telephone the firm.