Reports of live animals being given away as carnival prizes at an Oklahoma county fair have attracted the attention of animal rights activists who call the practice unethical. 

The Cleveland County Fair is thought to have given away rabbits as prizes at the central Oklahoma fairgrounds this weekend, igniting protests from local animal activists who say it’s dangerous to give animals away to homes fair organizers know nothing about.

There is currently no law prohibiting the practice, but a movement called “Pets are not Prizes” is pushing for reform and has caught the attention of some Oklahoma legislators.

Cleveland County Fair board president Richard Peters was unavailable for comment but told KFOR the stipulation dictating that no animals be given as prizes will be included in next year’s contract with the carnival company. 

Norman Animal Welfare Oversight Committee member Rebecca Bean said she was among those who condemned the practice last year and was told that it wouldn’t happen again. 

 “I think there are a few reasons that this is concerning for people who follow animal rights in Oklahoma,” she said. “For one thing, we don’t know anything about the health or breeding practices of the animals or the way they were raised. 

“We saw animals getting dumped in the wild. We saw some released at the fair. These are domesticated rabbits. It seems unethical to give a live animal away to a child without the permission of the parents. It’s concerning on a lot of different levels.” 

Norman resident Jobeth Juergens said she received one of the rabbits over the weekend. River, as he is called, is now a welcome member of the family, but Juergens said she is worried about the rest of the rabbits and said it was a strange and irresponsible carnival prize. 

“It’s kind of weird that they were giving them as prizes,” she said. “There were kids there that didn’t have their parents with them. We saw two tweens that won a rabbit and they had just packed it up in a box with a bag of food. We know how to take care of a rabbit, but what about the kids winning them?” 

Cleveland County fairgrounds manager Bryan Jenkins said administrators have met with the carnival, which is independently contracted, and doesn’t foresee issues.

“It was my understanding that the carnival was giving rabbits out as prizes and we have discussed that with them in the past. It will not be allowed in the future. There will be no live animals given away.”

That may soothe some animal rights activists’ concerns, but Bean said it’s not all that comforting because similar promises were made last year. Bean will push for a written agreement from the fair to assure they won’t allow animals be given away in the future. 

Burke writes for the Norman, Oklahoma, Transcript.