Afghan mega-spider bit dog to death
Killer ... camel spider like the one Lorraine says killed her dog
Lorraine Griffiths, 37, said the creature appeared when Paratrooper hubby Rodney, 32, returned from Helmand.
Pooch Bella died after a bite from the huge camel spider which is still on the loose.
Care worker Lorraine said: “It was the size of a palm. I think it hitched a lift with my husband. He’s back out there now, but I’m petrified of spiders and I cannot live in that house until it’s gone.”
Lorraine has left the four-bedroom Army property in Colchester, Essex – with children Cassie, 18, Ricky, 16 and four-year-old Ellie-Rose – and is living with her mother.
She said: “Ricky was in my bedroom, went into the drawer under my bed and something crawled across his hand. He saw a huge spider and screamed to Cassie.
“They tried to corner it, but it was too big. They poked it with a coat hanger and the spider bit it.
“The dog came in and barked. The spider hissed and Bella went running out whimpering.”
Eight-year-old Bella was taken ill after the encounter and had to be put down. The RSPCA and Army staff have been unable to find the invader – which can grow up to 6ins, run at up to 10mph and lives in desert regions. Iain Newby, of Essex’s Dangerous and Wild Animals Rescue Facility, said: “It’s venomous, but would not kill you.”
The Sun told in June how British soldier Graeme Boyd, 24, needed seven operations after being bitten by a camel spider in Iraq. His arm swelled to five times its normal size.