A HEARTBROKEN family are offering a reward after the theft of their pet ducks.

Four ducks were stolen and four were left injured after the incident at Silverdale Allotments in Guiseley.

Now their owner Jackie Field is appealing for the public to come forward with any information and she is offering a reward if it leads to a conviction.

She said the whole family had been upset by the theft on Monday, June 13, and that her great nieces had been particularly affected. The thief stole four birds, including a small calling duck.

“They also left four ducks injured and all the ducks were left distressed from their ordeal,” Jackie added.

“The remaining calling duck is extremely distressed and pining for his mate. Not only this but two small girls are left heartbroken at the loss of family pets.

“I would dearly love the person who did this to approach me and explain why. I doubt very much that they have either the decency or the guts to do that. This is akin to someone trespassing into someone’s garden and stealing a pet rabbit from a cage. Completely wrong and unacceptable.

“This matter has been reported to the police, and I am asking anyone who either saw or knows of any information to come forward, they can approach any one of us at the said allotment,” she said. “I am offering a reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the culprit.”

Jackie, who has a total of eight great nieces and nephews, said the ducks meant a lot to the whole family, and their loss had particularly affected eight-year-old Mia.

“She is remarkably upset by it,” she said. “She is such a little animal lover and she is so upset it is unbelievable.”

She said all the children had loved playing with the ducks on the allotment and the birds had also been popular with local people and passers-by.

“We keep them as pets,” she added. “They are not there for laying specifically - they are just there because we love them.”

Jackie, who has been keeping ducks for more than a decade, had initially thought the missing and injured birds had been attacked by a fox but she had later been told a witness had seen a man rounding them up.

The first inkling she had that anything was wrong came when one of the birds was found injured, and then she noticed others were also injured or missing.

She said: “This has really distressed and upset us.”