Ms Ilena was charged on July 29 with animal cruelty.
A woman in the United States has been charged with drowning her roommate’s tiny pet spider in a can of soda and later bragging about it online, writing, “Yes I’m an evil spider killer!!” According to the New York Post, the woman, identified as 43-year-old Ilena Renae Rasmussen, was arrested in July after texting her roommate and admitting to drowning her spider in ginger ale. She then repeatedly referred to the accusations in a series of social media posts. In one of the posts, she even shared a photo of her holding a soda can, just like the one she allegedly used to kill her roommate’s pet spider.
“F-k the haters!” the woman wrote in the caption of the post alongside an emoji of a spider.
The police said the woman’s roommate returned to her home one day and found her pet spider and its enclosure missing from their home. Later, the 43-year-old admitted to killing the spider, texting her roommate to admit that she drowned it in Ginger Ale.
Ms Ilena was charged on July 29 with animal cruelty as well as petty theft for the missing enclosure. The pet spider allegedly cost about $70.
A motive was not given for the alleged drowning of the spider or possible feud with her roommate. Ms Ilena, on the other hand, blamed her charges on people “being overly dramatic”.
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“This b***h had me arrested for a pet spider!!” she wrote on Facebook soon after her arrest. Ms Ilena is set to be arraigned on August 20, the Post reported.
The 43-year-old has also started a GoFundMe to try to raise $1,000 for her defence counsel.
Meanwhile, according to the US National Park Service, jumping spiders are a member of the family Salticidae, and are known for their shiny fur or scaly bodies and the large size of their eight eyes, which they use to hunt flies, ants and moths – making them a big part of Florida’s local ecosystem. The US Forest Service states that they range in size from one-eighth of an inch to three-fourths of an inch.
