Over 100 killer spiders bought over the internet found in abandoned Irish house

Over 100 killer spiders have been found in an abandoned house in Co Carlow. The horror infestation was discovered in recent weeks after a member of the public raised the alarm and called in a local animal refuge. Among the lethal critters found crawling in the house were black widows, funnel-web spiders, scorpions and tarantulas.



National Exotic Animal Sanctuary (NEAS) manager Kevin Cunningham: "We received a call from Carlow about a gentleman who had vacated a house and left over 100 spiders behind. "We had to go in with an expert, catalogue all the species and have the potentially lethal ones like the black widow and funnel-web spiders - which can kill you - destroyed.



"The man had bought the spiders over the internet and had them delivered to him and this is a growing problem that we are seeing here. Many of the spiders would just give a nasty bite but some like the funnel-web spider were a cause of concern. There were also dozens of dead spiders found around the room and the worryingly from postage boxes found on the premises, the spiders were posted from abroad.



"Imagine if they got out of the packaging while in transit. This is not an isolated case. All around Ireland, there are people with tigers, bears and poisonous snakes as pets. It's been going on a long time and we need to put the brakes on." The NEAS say new laws are now needed to stop the influx of dangerous and exotic animals being bought over the internet for pets.