A FAMILY of thieves allegedly stole several fish from a local pet shop an act which would be ultimately pointless as the fish would probably have killed each other by the time they got home.

This is because the three fish stolen from Dearne Valley Pet Centre on Brampton Road last Saturday were Siamese fighting fish.

Known for their territorial nature and high aggression levels, Siamese fighting fish have to be kept in separate tanks otherwise they fight one another and, more than likely, die.

Sarah Cook, 35, who works in the shop with her partner and shop owner David Isherwood, watched the incident back on CCTV the following day and could clearly see the family carrying out the elaborate theft.

Sarah, 35, said: “I suppose they were the easiest thing to steal.

“The little girl came over and asked if she could look at the rabbits, and I took her over and never thought anything of it. But looking back, she was the distraction while another girl and a woman took the fish.

“They used our bags and nets, smiled and said thank you on the way out. I found it very shocking watching it back on CCTV.

“We raise our kids not to steal and they have actually used their children as part of the crime, that made it worse for me.

“And they would have got home with a bag of dead fish, making the whole expedition fruitless.”

Sarah and David passed the CCTV footage on to the police, as well as sharing it on social media, in an attempt to identify the family, and they are currently waiting to hear from the police.

Sarah said the fish are fairly inexpensive, except one, which was what she called a ‘show fish.’

“It took a lot of time to track that fish down,” she said. “And the man who did it was setting up a new tank and spent a long time doing it.

“You have dogs that are common breeds and dogs that go on Crufts, and it’s the same with fish. That was the fish that would have made it to Crufts.”

The theft is a ‘kick in the teeth’ for the shop which only opened three months ago, said Sarah.