The conservatives have tied. Indeed, the ridiculous accusations leveled at immigrant communities abound. Donald Trump has accused them of “poisoning the blood” of the nation. Tucker Carlson has said they are making the country “poorer, dirtier, and more divided.” The Republican Party has largely embraced the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, and has made “a wave of immigrant crime” a central election issue. And as if we needed more evidence that right-wingers will go to any lengths to demonize immigrants, they are now accusing immigrant communities of killing and eating beloved family pets.
On Monday, social media was flooded with posts by prominent conservative lawmakers and commentators alleging that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were brutalizing and eating local cats and ducks.
The viral claim is unfounded and has been reported to the Springfield Police Department. Springfield News-Sun On Monday they had no reports of pets being stolen and eaten.
Springfield is a relatively small town northeast of Dayton. The city had been in a period of sustained economic hardship in the wake of the Great Recession, which saw population decline and large businesses and retailers leave the area. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a surge in manufacturing and warehouse businesses has attracted a wave of about 20,000 Haitian immigrants to the area. Contrary to viral claims from conservatives, they are not undocumented and generally have legal immigration status, work permits, and Social Security numbers.
The rapid demographic shift in the Republican-leaning area has created tension among some residents in Springfield — and now those local frictions have gone national.
On Friday, the prominent right-wing account “End Wokeness,” which has nearly three million followers, posted a screenshot of a post on a private Facebook group for Springfield residents.
“Warning to all about our beloved pets and those around us!! My neighbor informed me that her daughter's friend lost her cat,” the user wrote. “One day, she came home from work, and as soon as she got out of her car, she looked over to the neighbors house, where the Haitians live, and saw her cat hanging from a tree branch, like they do with a deer for slaughter, and they were cutting it up to eat it. I was told they do this to dogs, they did it in Snyder Park with ducks and geese, as I was told by the rangers and police. Please keep a close eye on these animals.”
The incident described in the Facebook post has not been verified, and Springfield Police have been notified. News-Shams They are aware of the post but the alleged events are “not something that is within our focus right now.”
The post then appeared to be linked to a separate incident that occurred last month, far from Springfield. In August, a video went viral on social media of a woman being arrested after killing and attempting to eat a cat in a “residential area in front of several people.” The woman, Alexis Tellia Ferrell, was charged with animal cruelty. The incident occurred in Canton, Ohio, nearly 200 miles from Springfield. Canton police did not indicate that Ferrell was undocumented, but the video sparked a firestorm of right-wing claims that undocumented Haitian immigrants were eating local cats.
Far-right influencer Ian Miles Cheung posted a video of Pharrell on Twitter with the caption: “This woman got arrested for eating someone’s pet cat in Ohio. How does something like that happen?” When another user asked if drugs were a factor in the incident, Cheung responded: “Worse than that. Haitians.”
By Monday, the baseless claim had spread like wildfire across social media.
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and causing general chaos throughout Springfield, Ohio,” wrote Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s vice presidential pick, on X. “Now reports are emerging of people having their pets kidnapped and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) posted a photo of two cats with the caption, “Please vote for Trump so we don't get eaten by Haitian immigrants.”
“When President Trump was in office: 1. The border was secure. 2. Illegal immigrants weren’t eating your pets,” wrote Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and an Ohio congressman.
In a post on X, the official account of the US House Judiciary Committee shared an AI-generated image of Trump cuddling a cat and a duck while half-submerged in a body of water.
“Springfield, Ohio residents say Haitians are eating their pets, another gift from the Biden-Harris plan to replace mass immigration,” wrote TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk. “Liberals will soon start lecturing Americans on why they need to be sensitive to Haitian culture and accept it as the new normal. These idiots deserve to be condemned and ridiculed mercilessly.”
“What the hell?!” Donald Trump Jr. wrote in response to Kirk.
XE owner Elon Musk has repeatedly reinforced these false claims. The right-wing billionaire posted a photo of cartoon characters Bart and Lisa Simpson standing on the gravestone of their cat Snowball. He captioned the photo: “Ohio now.”
In a separate post responding to the viral story, Musk wrote: “Vote for Kamala if you want this to happen to your neighborhood!”
Immigration is likely to be a major focal point during Tuesday night’s debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. While the former president did not directly address the false claims that immigrants are killing people’s pets, he did address the situation in a post on Truth Social.
“20,000 Haitian migrants were dumped in the small town of Springfield, Ohio. Here’s Border Czar Kamala Harris bragging about bringing them into our country,” he wrote in a comment on a video of Harris.
The post reveals the true intent behind the xenophobic smear campaign: to discredit Harris’ campaign and continue to spread fear about immigrant communities ahead of the election.
