The practice of offering live animals as lottery and fairground game prizes should be banned because it poses serious risks to animal welfare, NGO PI Animal Welfare Initiatives said on Tuesday.

“We are deeply concerned about a practice that, unfortunately, remains prevalent during various fairs, festivals, and public events in Cyprus (…),” the Lithuania-based NGO said.

It condemned the use of animals such as ducklings, baby turtles and rabbits as prizes or “cheap impulse purchases” and called on the authorities to introduce a comprehensive ban on the use of live animals in commercial entertainment attractions.

“Festivals and crowded fairs are highly stressful environments for young animals. The noise, extreme temperatures, lack of proper hydration and constant handling lead to immense suffering and high mortality rates,” the NGO said.

It added that animals won as prizes or bought on a whim were often not given the care they required, resulting in neglect or abandonment and placing what it described as an “unfair burden on local animal shelters and rescue groups.”

“Treating sentient beings as disposable toys or cheap marketing gimmicks undermines modern European animal welfare standards and sends a damaging message to the younger generation regarding the value of animal life,” the group said.

The organisation urged the authorities to align national legislation with European standards by prohibiting the use of live animals as prizes, saying such a move would strengthen animal welfare protections in Cyprus.