It’s a wild viral claim that has been snapped up and memed by Elon Musk, Republican influencers and even former President Donald Trump’s running-mate JD Vance — but it also stems from a serious problem.
Are migrants from Haiti grabbing pets out of yards and ducks from public parks so they they can eat them?
Springfield police told the Springfield News-Sun that migrants turning pets into pâté was “not something that’s on our radar right now. A city spokesperson said, “there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
Critics have said the claims about Haitian migrants eating pets are racist.
The tale, however, hints at much larger concerns about the recent influx of migrants into Springfield — a city of 60,000 people about 45 minutes west of Columbus.
Officials say that up to 20,000 Haitian immigrants have flowed into the city in the last several years, putting a huge strain on city services.
‘They’re in the park grabbing up ducks’
The craze began with an August meeting of the Springfield City Commission, where a 28-year-old man claimed — without evidence — that Haitian migrants were beheading ducks at local parks and then taking them home to eat.
“They’re in the park grabbing up ducks by they neck and cutting they head off and walking up with them and eating them,” the man said, imploring the city commission to rein in the migrants.
Also spreading online are grabs of a post made by someone in a Springfield Facebook group claiming a friend’s cat went missing — and then was purportedly seen strung up and butchered for dinner in a Haitian migrant’s yard.
One of the videos that went viral with the claims shows a woman who was arrested for allegedly eating a cat last month. The clip appears to show 27-year-old Allexis Telia Ferrell, who according to Fox 12, was charged after a maddened Aug. 16 rampage in which she allegedly stomped on the cat and then devoured it in front of her neighbors.
However, records do not indicate the woman is either Haitian or a migrant — and she was arrested in Canton, about three hours from Springfield.
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Another image that is part of the viral story, of a man holding a goose, appears to originate from an August Reddit post in a group dedicated to Columbus, where the poster provided no context beyond bewilderment.
A super viral claim
Vance, who is also an Ohio senator, was one of the first major politicians to amplify the reports of migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
“People have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country,” Vance wrote on X Monday.
Musk has also jumped on the bandwagon — commenting on or reposting AI-generated images of Trump saving ducks and kittens.
Vance has defended his amplification of the claims.
“Senator Vance has received a high volume of calls and emails over the past several weeks from concerned citizens in Springfield: his tweet is based on what he is hearing from them. The city has faced an influx of 15,000-20,000 Haitian migrants over the past four years, stressing public resources and leading to housing shortages, all thanks to Kamala Harris’s policy of extending temporary protected status designations,” a Vance spokesperson told The Hill.
“Many residents have contacted Senator Vance to share their concerns over crime and traffic accidents, and to express that they no longer feel safe in their own homes. Unlike the liberal media, JD takes his constituents’ concerns seriously.”
Claims of racism
Springfield has long been a largely-white city – 70% of residents were white as of 2022, according to Data US, compared to 17% black, and 5% reported being Hispanic.
But that white majority has been declining over the last ten years – slowly but steadily – while minorities have been growing.
Some social media commenters have said the claims of Haitian immigrants eating pets is nothing more than a racist, xenophobic responses to Springfield’s shifting demographics.
“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,” Erik Crew, an attorney for the Haitian Bridge Alliance told the Hill.
“White supremacist and antidemocratic 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.”
Scores of blatantly racist memes have cropped up on the heels of the pet-eating claims, including one that shows shirtless black people chasing down Donald Trump as he flees with ducks and kittens under his arms.
The real migrant concerns in Springfield, Ohio
The issue of Haitian migrants have become a flashpoint in Springfield — a former manufacturing hub of 60,000 between Dayton and Columbus.
Over the last four years the city’s migrant Haitian population has grown 15,000 to 20,000 people — increasing Springfield’s population by as much as one-third, according to city officials.
Many residents and local politicians — including Vance — have expressed outrage at the influx, claiming the Haitian population has strained the city’s services and left legal Americans in the lurch.
Tensions have been heightened since August 2023 after a 36-year-old Haitian immigrant – Hermanio Joseph — lost control of a minivan he was driving without a valid US license on highway near Springfield and strayed into the path of an oncoming school bus.
The bus driver swerved to avoid Joseph, and went careering off the road, throwing 11-year-old Aiden Clark from a window and fatally crushing him as it rolled.
Twenty other kids were hospitalized.
Joseph had been living in Springfield for over a year at the time of the accident, according to Spectrum News. He was sentenced to at least 9 years in prison.
