President Obama got a dressing down on Wednesday from an animal-rights group after he took a “precious” life with the whole world watching – that of a common house fly.

A spokesman for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said the group was stunned to see the president swat and kill a fly during an interview Tuesday on CNBC. PETA said it would be sending Obama a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher, a device that allows users to trap a house fly and then release it outside.

We support compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals," PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich said Wednesday. "We believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals.

Obama was being interviewed by correspondent John Harwood when the pesky fly began harassing the set. The president, after warning the fly to “get out of here,” waited for it to light then swatted it with his hand. "Now, where were we?" Obama asked Harwood. Then he added: "That was pretty impressive, wasn't it? I got the sucker.

What Obama’s actions showed, Friedrich said, is that Obama is “not perfect,” even though he has had a satisfactory voting record in the Senate on behalf of animal rights and was an outspoken critic of animal abuse.