Shropshire homeowner devastated after fish poisoned in pond
A woman who came home to find that her 18 beloved Koi Carp fish, worth £2,000, had been poisoned said today she is scared to keep living in her house.
Ellen Tough returned to her home in Shuker Close, Newport, to find all of her fish floating on the surface of her outside pond.
Examinations by police have found that they were deliberately poisoned by someone climbing into her garden.
Police believe that some sort of detergent was poured into the water before the culprit made their escape.
The fish were worth around £2,000. Miss Tough, 57, said she was "devastated".
She said: "I wish they had stolen them – at least they'd be alive then.
"To find them floating on the pond was just devastating. I've been given a lot of them as presents. Some were 30 inches long.
"It's just blown me away. I just cannot think why this has happened. It's not as though they upset anyone or made any noise.
"To replace them would cost £2,000. Even if I had the money I couldn't put myself through this again.
"They were my babies. They all had names and I found them company. They used to come to me and I'd stroke their bellies."
Miss Tough said someone was spotted snooping in her garden about five weeks ago. She believes that the same person could have returned to carry out the killing. Miss Tough started with one Koi Carp fish about eight years ago and her collection soon grew.
When she moved to Shuker Close about two years ago, her giant 12ft by six foot giant pond, made from wood, came with her.
Miss Tough said: "It's made me jumpy to be in my own house. I keep seeing shadows out in the back garden.
"To be honest, I just want to move away now."
Police said they were keen to talk to anyone with information.
The attack happened sometime between 11.40am on Saturday morning and 1.30pm on Sunday.
Contact police on 101, quoting incident number 0342 S270414.
