Animals as Prizes

A person may not give or offer to give away any live animal, except fish, as prizes in a game unless the animal is a domestic animal and is offered or given away in connection with an agricultural, educational or vocational program sponsored or sanctioned by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA).

An agricultural, educational or vocational program shall be considered sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture without the requirement that it obtain written confirmation of this status from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture in advance of conducting a game at which a domestic animal is to be offered or given away as a prize if the following apply:

1. The program has been sponsored by the Department at any time during the year proceeding the date upon which the domestic animal is to be offered or given away as a prize in a game.
   
2. The program is the entity that actually conducts the game and offers or gives away the live domestic animal.
   

An agricultural, educational or vocational program that is not sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture must submit an application to offer animals as prizes and receive written confirmation from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture that it is sanctioned by the department prior to conducting any game at which a domestic animal is to be offered or given away as prize.

A game may be conducted by a program sanctioned by the department if one of the following applies:

1. The game is conducted by the agricultural educational program sanctioned by the department and the program receives the proceeds of the game.
   
2. The game is conducted by some other entity, such as a vendor or subcontractor, and the agricultural, educational or vocational program sanctioned by the department receives at least 90% of the proceeds of the game.