Woman Jailed, Hit with Animal Cruelty Charge for Killing Spider
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
A Florida woman was arrested on animal cruelty charges and other counts after allegedly killing another woman’s pet spider by drowning it in a fizzy drink.
Ilena Rasmussen, 43, faces counts of animal cruelty and petty theft after ending the life of a jumping spider in a situation that resulted in her being charged on July 29.
According to The Miami Herald, Rasmussen’s roommate was the first to notice something wrong, and potentially criminal, had occurred.
On July 15, the roommate arrived home to find her pet spider and its enclosure missing entirely.
She texted Rasmussen, who gave the roommate some shocking news.
“The defendant texted the victim admitting to drowning the jumping spider in ginger ale,” the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an affidavit, according to the Herald.
Because the drowning was allegedly intentional, Rasmussen was hit with the animal cruelty charge.
The creepy crawly’s missing enclosure was answered with a petty theft charge.
This arachnid was no common house spider, it seems.
Authorities valued the pet jumping spider at $70, although no exact species identification has been offered yet. (It turns out, there are more than 6,000 species of jumping spiders.)
Rasmussen appears to be taking the situation, and the charges that go along with it, as something of a joke.
According to the New York Post, Rasmussen took to social media to make several cruel posts referencing the death of the spider.
“Are my 15 minutes up yet? I’m bored….,” Rasmussen had written in the “Intro” section of her Facebook page on Aug. 7.
Other posts include a picture of Rasmussen flashing a can of ginger ale — the deadly arm in her alleged crime.
She also posted her mugshot with a confirmation that it was her in the photo.
Rasmussen has also organized a GoFundMe to cover “legal fees for the spider drowner.”
The fundraiser, with a $1,000 goal, has only reached $60 from five donations as of Monday morning.
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