PETA Targets NFL Star George Kittle After He Kills Spider

San Francisco 49ers star George Kittle is getting blasted by animal rights activists after admitting he killed a spider that invaded his bathroom and terrified his wife during a late-night showdown.

The seven-time Pro Bowler sparked the bizarre controversy after sharing the story online Wednesday morning, joking that he had to battle a spider “the size of a half dollar” at around 1 a.m. inside his home.

But while many fans laughed at the situation, PETA wasn’t amused.

The activist group publicly scolded the NFL star for crushing the spider instead of letting it live, with PETA senior vice president Lisa Lange accusing Kittle of using “unnecessary roughness” on the tiny intruder.

“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,” Lange said in a statement.

The organization then urged Kittle to adopt a “live and let live” attitude when dealing with bugs inside his house.

Kittle had explained that the spider was so massive he needed to use a rehab slant board to finally crush it after it invaded the couple’s bathroom. His wife, Claire, later described the aftermath as “disgusting” before jokingly calling her husband her “knight in shining armor.”

PETA, however, doubled down and announced it would be sending the NFL star a “humane bug catcher” so future spiders can allegedly be removed safely instead of killed.

The organization also reminded the public that spiders “play a crucial role in ecosystems” and claimed most are harmless to humans. PETA even suggested homeowners use peppermint oil to politely encourage spiders to leave on their own.

The internet, meanwhile, had plenty to say about the situation, with many sports fans mocking the idea that a professional football player should be publicly shamed over killing a spider in his own bathroom.

For some critics, the backlash felt like another example of activists targeting everyday behavior while Americans deal with far bigger problems.

Still, if another oversized spider sneaks into the Kittle household anytime soon, the 49ers star may now have cameras waiting to see whether he reaches for the slant board — or the humane bug catcher.