Baseless Claim About Haitian Immigrants Eating Pets in Ohio Sparks Controversy

JD Vance repeats baseless claim Haitian immigrants are eating pets as Ohio officials say there is no evidence

Officials in Springfield, Ohio, said Monday they have not received any credible reports of Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets, despite viral claims on social media that have been amplified by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance and others. References to the claim, which allege Haitian migrants have been eating cats, as well as ducks and geese, have garnered millions of views on X, with Vance's X post racking up 4 million views alone, as of Monday evening. Vance, the Republican senator for Ohio, said he had previously raised the issue of Haitian immigrants "causing chaos all over Springfield," adding, "Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country." The House Judiciary GOP, Sen. Ted Cruz and Elon Musk, the owner of X, also posted about the claim on Monday. Cruz, a Texas Republican, posted a meme on X showing two cats holding each other, with text that reads "Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don't eat us." But the city's spokesperson told CBS News there have been "no credible reports or specific claims" of pets being harmed by migrants. "In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community," said Karen Graves, strategic engagement manager for Springfield. While it's not possible to say where the claim originated, the Springfield News-Sun reported that it may be linked to a viral post in a Springfield Facebook group. In the Facebook post, a person says a neighbor's daughter's friend lost her cat and later found it hanging from a branch near a Haitian neighbor's house, according to the Springfield News-Sun. Screenshots of the post have been circulating on X and other platforms, racking up thousands of likes and views. The post appears to be in a private Facebook group; CBS News has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the post. Some social media users shared body camera footage of an unrelated incident in which an Ohio woman was accused of killing and eating a cat in Canton, a city more than 170 miles away from Springfield. Public records indicate the woman in the footage, Allexis Telia Ferrell, is not a migrant and has lived in Ohio for at least 18 years. Social media users are also sharing AI images in connection with the claim about Haitian migrants. One AI-created image shows Trump holding a cat in each arm, running through a crowd of Black people. The caption reads: "The kittens of Springfield have only one hope." Springfield, a city of just under 58,000 people, has seen a large increase in migrants arriving in the last several years. There are an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 migrants in Ohio's Clark County, with more than 10,000 coming from Haiti, according to local officials. The Springfield-based Haitian Community Help and Support Center was established in 2023 to help assist migrants, especially Haitains, arriving in Clark County. In addition to dispelling rumors about harm to pets, the city's spokesperson said there were no confirmed instances of migrants squatting, littering or deliberately disrupting traffic.

Trump, JD Vance repeat baseless claim Haitian immigrants are eating pets as Ohio officials say there is no evidence

Officials in Springfield, Ohio, said Monday they have not received any credible reports of Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets, despite viral claims on social media that have been amplified by former President Donald Trump, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance and others. References to the claim, which allege Haitian migrants have been eating cats, as well as ducks and geese, have garnered millions of views on X, with Vance's X post racking up 10.7 million views alone as of Tuesday evening. Vance, the Republican senator for Ohio, said he had previously raised the issue of Haitian immigrants "causing chaos all over Springfield," adding, "Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country." Trump repeated the baseless claim in Tuesday night's debate with Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs -- the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there and this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame," Trump said. When ABC anchor David Muir responded that city officials disputed that, Trump insisted he had seen people saying so on television. The House Judiciary GOP, Sen. Ted Cruz and Elon Musk, the owner of X, also posted on social media about the claim on Monday. Cruz, a Texas Republican, posted a meme on X showing two cats holding each other, with text that reads "Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don't eat us." But the city's spokesperson told CBS News there have been "no credible reports or specific claims" of pets being harmed by migrants. "In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community," said Karen Graves, strategic engagement manager for Springfield. Leann Castillo, executive director for the Clark County Park District, said there has been "no evidence or reports" of people eating pets or wildlife in Clark County parks. "People have contacted us to inquire, but we do not have any knowledge of this taking place," Castillo said. While it's not possible to say where the claim originated, the Springfield News-Sun reported that it may be linked to a viral post in a Springfield Facebook group. In the Facebook post, a person says a neighbor's daughter's friend lost her cat and later found it hanging from a branch near a Haitian neighbor's house, according to the Springfield News-Sun. Screenshots of the post have been circulating on X and other platforms, racking up thousands of likes and views. The post appears to be in a private Facebook group; CBS News has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the post. Some social media users shared body camera footage of an unrelated incident in which an Ohio woman was accused of killing and eating a cat in Canton, a city more than 170 miles away from Springfield. Public records indicate the woman in the footage, Allexis Telia Ferrell, is not a migrant and has lived in Ohio for at least 18 years. Social media users are also sharing AI images in connection with the claim about Haitian migrants. One AI-created image shows Trump holding a cat in each arm, running through a crowd of Black people. The caption reads: "The kittens of Springfield have only one hope." Springfield, a city of just under 58,000 people, has seen a large increase in migrants arriving in the last several years. There are an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 migrants in Ohio's Clark County, with more than 10,000 coming from Haiti, according to local officials. The Springfield-based Haitian Community Help and Support Center was established in 2023 to help assist migrants, especially Haitains, arriving in Clark County. In addition to dispelling rumors about harm to pets, the city's spokesperson said there were no confirmed instances of migrants squatting, littering or deliberately disrupting traffic.

Republicans spread unsubstantiated slurs about Haitian migrants in Ohio city

Police reject suggestion by Trump campaign and JD Vance that Haitians in Springfield are eating pets and local wildlife Prominent Republicans including the Trump campaign and JD Vance are sharing false and unsubstantiated claims that Haitian migrants in an Ohio city are eating pets and local wildlife. The salacious and often racist social media posts claim, without evidence, that migrants from Haiti to Springfield, Ohio, are stealing pets and local wildlife such as ducks and geese and are butchering them for food. Many of the posts, including one shared by the X account for the Republicans on the House judiciary committee, use images generated by artificial intelligence to show Donald Trump holding and protecting cats and ducks, casting him as a savior to the town. Ted Cruz, the Republican senator from Texas, shared a meme of two cats hugging one another that said, "Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don't eat us." The Springfield News-Sun reported on Monday that police have "received no reports related to pets being stolen and eaten". The claims appear to have originated from a commenter at a local city meeting, who said migrants were grabbing ducks from the park to kill and eat, and from local crime-watch Facebook groups. They were then shared on other social media platforms and made it into a headline in the Daily Mail. The misinformation about migrants in Springfield comes as the Trump campaign has sought to make immigration a key issue, tying Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the towns unprepared for migrants arriving via the southern border. Springfield's mayor, Rob Rue, went on Fox to say the Biden administration was to blame for "failing cities like ours and taxing us beyond our limit". The city has seen a large number of migrants from Haiti, which has both helped the economy there with staffing concerns while also stretching the capacity of some services like clinics and schools, the New York Times reported. A Biden administration policy provided temporary protected status to hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants, who have left their home country because of ongoing violence. Some estimates say as many as 20,000 people from Haiti have come to the city, the Times said. Last year, a migrant driving a van outside Springfield crashed intoa school bus, killing one child, which added fuel to the concerns some residents have had with migration. Housing costs have also increased, which has led to fewer options for low-income residents of all backgrounds, the paper reported. Residents at recent council meetings have appealed to their elected officials to better manage the new stream of residents. In now viral testimony, one woman said she and her husband might need to move from their home because of ongoing problems with "men that cannot speak English in my front yard screaming at me" and throwing items in her yard. Some have also tried to tie a woman who was charged recently in Canton, Ohio, for allegedly killing and then eating a cat to the influx of migrants in Springfield, a different city more than 150 miles away. She does not appear to be a Haitian migrant. Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, has spoken against Haitian migrants in Ohio for months and again posted about it on Monday. "Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country. Where is our border czar?" he wrote, referring to Vice-President Kamala Harris. The Trump campaign sent out an email on Monday blasting Harris for the unrest in Springfield, saying: "It's all coming to your city if Kamala Harris is elected in November. It doesn't have to be this way. Beginning on day one, President Trump will begin the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history - because he'll always put America, and Americans, FIRST." On Monday, the Ohio attorney general, Dave Yost, a Republican, announced he would use his office's resources to "research legal avenues to stop the federal government from sending an unlimited number of migrants to Ohio communities". He said his office would "exhaust all possibilities" to address the migrants. Among other complaints from residents, he said that the migrants were reportedly "killing wildlife for food".

Vance pushes false accusations of Haitians eating pets

GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) on Monday amplified a false claim that Haitian immigrants are abducting and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, despite the city's police department denial of any such incidents. In a post on X, Vance published a video of him at a July Senate Banking Committee hearing, reading a letter from Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck detailing the city's challenges in keeping up with housing for a growing Haitian immigrant population. Vance added a reference to a now-debunked social media post. "Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country. Where is our border czar?" he wrote. Those reports are largely based on social media postings that were picked up by national figures including Charlie Kirk and Elon Musk over the weekend. But Heck, whose letter Vance read in the committee room, said false allegations against immigrants were distracting from the real issues faced by Springfield. "In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents' homes. Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic," Heck told The Hill in an email. "Yes this clearly takes away from the letter's point that we are struggling with housing, resources for our schools, and an overwhelmed healthcare system." The Springfield Police Division on Monday told the Springfield News-Sun that they have received no reports about anyone stealing or eating pets. "This is the same old anti-Black playbook that we've seen for hundreds of years in Ohio being rolled out to divide and create hate, especially around election times," said Erik Crew, staff attorney at the Haitian Bridge Alliance and a Cincinnati native with Springfield roots. "White supremacist and anti-democratic movements have always used the claim that so-called Black savages are coming to destroy, especially when political power is up for grabs. This is no different. This time they are saying it is Haitians, and this time it is being used to try to score political points around immigration as well." The Hill has reached out to the Trump-Vance campaign for comment. According to a frequently asked questions page managed by the Springfield police, between 12,000 and 15,000 Haitians live in the midwestern city legally, under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. Heck's letter estimated that population to be between 15,000 and 20,000. In June, the Biden administration expanded the TPS designation for Haiti, allowing an estimated 309,000 Haitians to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation. "The fact is Haitian immigrants have been coming to Springfield seeking to come and contribute to U.S. democracy and the economy, and Springfield and Ohio will benefit from that like U.S. communities have benefited in the past from Black immigrants contributions," said Crew. "The fact is the rumors about Haitians in Springfield and pets have already been debunked, but we won't stop hearing them because certain people will want to keep spreading them as the election nears." The Haitian blood libel accusations were widely picked up on right-wing social media on both personal and official channels. The House Judiciary Committee Republicans X account on Monday posted an AI image of former President Trump hugging a duck and a cat -- animals at the center of the social media allegations -- with the caption "protect our ducks and kittens in Ohio!" Vance has recent experience in cat-related controversies since becoming the GOP vice presidential nominee. He has been widely criticized for unearthed old comments and postings criticizing "cat ladies" and childless people, though he has since tried to downplay those remarks as sarcasm.

Yes, They're Really Claiming Immigrants Eat Cats and Geese Now. You Can Guess Why.

As we get closer to the election, the Republican Party is finding it increasingly politically useful to fix the public's attention on the supposed dangers of immigrant populations. The Trump campaign keeps calling Vice President Kamala Harris the "border czar" in its attacks. (In actuality, Harris was tasked by the Biden administration with addressing the root causes of migration from Central America in 2021.) Conservative media have played up stories of an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, that was supposedly taken over by a Venezuelan gang (it wasn't), and the Heritage Foundation has pushed the idea that noncitizen voters pose a serious threat to the legitimacy of the upcoming presidential election (they don't). On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on "The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victim Perspectives," exploring "the effects of the Biden-Harris Administration's open borders policies on American families and communities" through testimony from "victims of fentanyl poisoning" and "criminal illegal aliens." But no anti-immigrant scare tactic has captured the troll internet space quite like the Haitian pet-eating panic. On Monday, social media was flooded with A.I.-generated images of Donald Trump holding kittens and ducks -- and sometimes carrying them away from Black people giving them chase. The images, which as memes are meant to convey an own-the-libs kind of dark humor, are based on a false claim that has bounced around the conservative internet -- that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating Americans' pets. As racist misinformation goes, this instance of fake news is particularly vile and dehumanizing, in a kind of classically nativist way. There's no dog whistle here -- the bigotry is open and gleeful. The claim originated with a fictitious Facebook post about Springfield, Ohio, in which the user said that their neighbor's daughter's friend's cat was cooked and eaten by Haitians. The post also said that Haitians were cooking ducks and geese in a local park. These claims were utterly false, but some people on social media conflated it with an unrelated story from Canton, Ohio, in which a woman killed and ate a neighborhood cat. The woman does not appear to be an immigrant. In reality, the city of Springfield has experienced a large surge of immigration from Haiti since the pandemic, in part because of a boom in manufacturing and warehouse jobs, and some residents have complained bitterly about it. The New York Times noted that the city has recently seen a Nazi march and had a town meeting derailed by bigoted complaints, but that "by most accounts, the Haitians have helped revitalize Springfield." The pet-eating rumor spread quickly, though. On Sunday night, a popular "breaking news" account shared the Facebook post onto X, where it took off. The account paired the Facebook post with a photo of a Black man walking down a residential street carrying a Canada goose by its legs. (The photo is from Columbus, Ohio, not Springfield; the person who took the photo has protested that it is not proof of anything.) In an effort to back up the bird-eating-related claims, social media users posted a clip of a man in a Springfield meeting saying, "They're in the park, grabbing up ducks by their necks, and cutting their heads off and walking off with them, and eating them." There is no evidence of this. Former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, a man who has promoted white nationalist positions, went all-in on the story, tweeting repeatedly about how Harris' "plan is to turn America into a destitute refugee colony." The Trump campaign posted on X that Harris would send "migrants who eat pets" to "your town next." Elon Musk, who has 197 million followers on X, was particularly obsessive, posting or sharing posts about Springfield and immigrants eating pets at least eight times. Several of the posts featured A.I.-generated memes. Others were pure speculation. But what was really remarkable about the chain of events was how quickly the talking point was embraced by Republican lawmakers. Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia posted: "They're in the park. Grabbing up ducks. By they neck. And eatin 'em." Rep. Lauren Boebert wrote: "No one was eating your pets when President Trump was in the White House..." Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio posted twice about migrants eating pets, warning, "Don't think it can't happen where you live too." Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs posted: "Protect America's pets!" They got into the memes, too. The Republican House Judiciary Committee account shared an A.I. image of Trump cuddling animals in a lake. Sen. Ted Cruz didn't go for the A.I. images, but he did post a meme in the style of an earlier internet era, showing two embracing cats with the text "Please vote for Trump so the Haitian immigrants don't eat us." He captioned it with three laughing emojis. And by Tuesday afternoon, the internet meme discourse hit the real world. According to the Arizona Republican Party, it had erected 12 digital billboards in the Phoenix metro area featuring a joke about it. On the billboards, which are a spoof of Chick-fil-A's famous "Eat Mor Chikin" ad campaign, A.I. kittens wearing cow costumes have painted a message: "EAT LESS KITTENS. Vote Republican!" It remains unclear how much any of these people actually believe that Haitian immigrants are eating pets. It's all too easy to point out that pet-related conversations have not favored conservatives in recent months, given J.D. Vance's misogynistic comments about "childless cat ladies"; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's writing about shooting her dog; and the published photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has thrown his support to Trump, miming the act of eating a barbecued dog. The A.I. memes, which are extremely plentiful on X, aren't actually implying any level of seriousness about endangered pets; they're just absurdist racist jokes. There's a kind of internet shock humor to it all, an ugly meeting of Stephen Miller's 19-century-style racism with Elon Musk's messageboard racism, plus some dissonant echoes of the heyday of the cat internet in the mid-2000s. But whether or not they believe in the pet-killing story, the country's most powerful Republicans are trying to incite some kind of moral panic. On Monday morning, Sen. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, posted on social media that he had previously raised concerns about Haitian immigrants in Springfield. "Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country," he wrote. "Where is our border czar?" Tuesday morning, he doubled down, bringing up the death of an 11-year-old Ohio boy who was killed in a car crash caused by a Haitian man driving without a valid driver's license. (The boy's family has disavowed the hateful rhetoric around the Haitian community in Springfield.) Vance wrote: It was a tirade meant to stir up the fears that Trump loves to provoke. There was a political argument here -- even if it's a xenophobic one -- based on the idea that migrant populations are straining public resources. The New York Times reported that in Springfield, the Haitian population has taxed certain institutions, such as the health care and educational systems, but that it simultaneously rescued the town's flagging local economy. That kind of nuance is seemingly uninteresting to Vance, who indicated he cared less about the truth of the situation than in stoking hate. "Don't let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots," he wrote. "Keep the cat memes flowing."

The stereotype of immigrants eating dogs and cats is storied -- and vitriolic as ever

In Tuesday night's debate, former President Donald Trump repeated an unfounded claim that immigrants are eating people's pets. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption This story first appeared in NPR's live blog of the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. See how the night unfolded. It was understood that immigration would be front and center during Tuesday night's presidential debate. More surprising was that the conversation veered into bizarre falsehoods about migrants eating pet dogs and cats in Ohio. While certainly strange, these accusations are hardly unprecedented. In fact, there's a long history of accusing immigrants of eating cats and dogs. For context, in the last few days, vice presidential candidate JD Vance has echoed a rumor about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio eating people's pets. Springfield, a city of around 60,000, has received 15,000 to 20,000 migrants in the last four years, many from Haiti. Mayor Rob Rue recently told NPR the influx has led to the city struggling with basic infrastructure. Schools and hospitals are spread thin, and an existing housing crisis has exacerbated. It's led to tension, as well as unfounded rumors about gang activity, voodoo practices and eating of cats, dogs and park ducks. The Springfield police has denied the claims. And yet, tales of migrants eating pets spread throughout social media like wildfire. So did the memes and AI images of former President Donald Trump saving kittens and dogs in the hours leading up to the debate. It even made it to the debate itself. "They're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats," Trump said during an answer to a question about immigration. "They're eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame." Vice President Harris looked away and laughed at the comments while moderator David Muir stepped in, saying there have been no credible reports of pets being harmed by Springfield's immigrant community. But by the time the debate was over, THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS was trending on the platform X. Fear and disgust over immigrant foods has a long history in America. Italians were once upon a time labeled as "garlic eaters". Writer Gustavo Arellano has written about how the staple diet of beans led to a slur against Mexicans. The stereotype of the immigrant who eats cats and dogs is also storied, often lobbed against Asian Americans. "The dog-eating stereotype has historically been utilized to belittle Asians and Asian immigrants," writes Jean Rachel Bahk in the Inlandia literary journal. "I was incessantly pestered about whether the meat in the side dishes I brought for lunch was dog meat" she recalls about her own childhood. "Despite my persistent attempts to explain that dog-eating was not at all a common practice among Asians not to mention Asian Americans I started to beg my mom to stop packing me Korean dishes." In recent speeches Trump has also likened immigrants to Hannibal Lecter, the cannibal in the film Silence of the Lambs. Ultimately, with both accusations there's a point being made: these people are here to consume us, and what we love. "I've seen them," Springfield Republican committeewoman Glenda Bailey recently told NPR of Haitian migrants, echoing concepts of The Great Replacement theory. "What they've done is they've replaced the population in Springfield, Ohio." Following the debate, social media was rife with comments from people in disbelief that part of a presidential debate focused on pets being eaten by people. But it should not come as a shock: In the last few years the rhetoric on immigration from the Republican Party has been getting more vitriolic, according to a study from Stanford University. The study used AI to chart the tone of more than 200,000 speeches since the 1880s, and found the hostile rhetoric in the way Republicans discuss immigration today is very reminiscent of that used against Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s, when they were targeted by the nation's first country-based restrictions on immigration. And at Tuesday night's debate, they once again were broadcast to millions of Americans by the party's candidate for president.