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On Wednesday, George Kittle recounted an early morning encounter he had with the spider he compromised to a permanent end after his wife found it lurking in their bathroom. His spouse may have appreciated the gesture, but the same cannot be said for PETA, which took the 49ers tight end to task for declining to spare its life.
Arachnophobia is probably one of the more common fears out there, and if you mention you have a disdain for spiders, there’s a good chance someone will inform you that the vast majority of them are harmless, are more scared of you than you are of them, and actually serve a valuable role in the food chain thanks to the other pests they consume to survive.
That may all be true, but that does not cancel out the fact that they’re creepy as hell and one of the more naturally unnerving creatures in existence, and many people will not think twice about killing one that has the nerve to invade their personal domain.
There are also many spider haters who are petrified of them to the point where they need someone else to do their dirty work for them, which would appear to be the case with George Kittle’s wife, Claire. He gave himself a pat on the back after coming to the rescue earlier this week, but he drew the ire of PETA in the process.
PETA took George Kittle to task for killing a spider
On Wednesday morning, Kittle hopped online to let the world know he had risen to the occasion after getting woken up at 4 A.M. to deal with “a spider the size of a half dollar” that his wife came across in their bathroom.
The tight end, who is currently recovering from the torn Achilles tendon he suffered when the 49ers lost to the Eagles in last season’s wild card matchup, grabbed a slant board he’s been harnessing while rehabbing to use as a weapon before taking care of business, which seemingly brought the brief saga to an end.
At 4 am this morning, as I laid in a deep slumber, I was called to action by my wife who had discovered a spider the size of a half dollar in the bathroom. Without hesitation I arose to combat the intruder. Claire handed me the slant board I’ve been using for rehab, and I…
— George Kittle (@gkittle46) May 13, 2026
However, according to The California Post, that development came to the attention of Lisa Lange, a senior vice president at PETA who took him to task for not sparing its life while ripping a page out of the aforementioned “Spiders Aren’t Actually That Bad” playbook, saying:
“Spiders are tiny compared to the average human, let alone an NFL player, and have a lot more to fear from us than we do from them, so there’s no need for unnecessary roughness.
PETA is urging George Kittle to drop the unsportsmanlike conduct and adopt a live and let live approach when it comes to uninvited arachnid guests.”
She also offered to send him a PETA-branded “humane bug catcher” to deploy for future incidents, although I have a feeling he may decline the gesture.