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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 deadly 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.

In recent times, the centre also had to rescue a North American raccoon after it was found in the passenger seat of a car in Co. Tipperary.

Kevin said: "The lady had got out of her car to open a gate and thought she saw a cat running by her.

"When she got back to her car, the raccoon was sitting in the seat. It was a bit of a shock for her."

Nicknamed 'Houdini' because of his escape act, Kevin added the raccoon is "now being housed in a secure enclosure, thanks to Irish Fencing, which joins emus, llamas, a snapper turtle,parrots and many other abandoned animals in Ballivor.

"Unfortunately we are seeing a lot more of raccoons being kept as pets and the Government has now classed them as an invasive species because they are escaping into the wild and surviving.

"They're not really trustworthy as pets as the tips of my fingers can attest to." Kevin continued:

"In Britain and in Northern Ireland, they have the Wild Animal Act which requires the owners to have a licence if their animal is capable of inflicting any harm to a person or other animal.

"Technically you can keep a tiger in Ireland and you're not breaking any laws.

"The government needs to look at this problem now as more and more exotic animals become available for sale on the net."

NEAS was founded in 2008 by Kevin Cunningham and Yvonne Smalley who have a combined 40 years experience with exotic animals.

The sanctuary is voluntary run and further details can be found at www.neas.ie