Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe NEW YORK, March 23 (UPI) -- A New York man has been charged with killing his roommate's fish after she started packing to leave. Jose Santiago, 47, was released without bail Thursday after being charged with animal cruelty and assault, the New York Post reported. Advertisement Brenda Alvarez said she decided to leave the apartment she and Santiago had shared for several years in Brooklyn because their relationship was fraying. She said they grew up together in Brooklyn. Santiago first attacked her and then went after the fish, she said, flushing one down the toilet and put the other in a bag. She described the fish, named Bonnie and Clyde, as being like her "babies." "They were my babies! I can't have children, so my pets are like my kids," Alvarez told the Post Friday. "They were beautiful fish and cost about $25 each. I did everything for him, and the only thing I ever asked him to do was the laundry. So, why did he do this to me?" Police sources told the Post that Santiago accused Alvarez of attacking him. Read More Fish die in Cleveland's Cuyahoga River Thousands of fish die in Texas lake La. plant closed while fish kill probed Great Lakes fish at risk from power plants Lack of oxygen likely fish kill cause Fish kill reported in Florida state park
