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 can eat them?
Police in Springfield, Ohio, 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 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 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 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.
