One of the stranger moments of last nights fiery presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris came when the former president ranted about Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
In Springfield, theyre eating the dogs. The people that came in, theyre eating the cats, the Republican candidate said.
Theyre eating the pets of the people that live there.
The claims, dismissed during the debate by the Vice President as unbelievable and extreme, have electrified the American political debate.
While city officials and law enforcement officers in Springfield say there have been no credible reports to suggest they are true, some fed-up residents maintain that its a problem.
Ohios Republican Attorney General has now launched an investigation into the influx of Haitians in the town, calling it absurd and a disaster.
One of the stranger moments of last nights fiery presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris came when the former president ranted about Haitian migrants eating pets
A Springfield resident last month claimed that Haitian migrants were decapitating ducks in public parks and eating them last month
The viral claims began with a photograph of a man appearing to hold a large bird walking down the street. They spread online, with many linking them to the Springfield scandal
The flustered 78-year-old frequently raised his voice as he hit back at the vice president on immigration and the economy, branding her a Marxist, blaming her for what he said were the failings of President Joe Bidens administration
The town of Springfield has been a flashpoint in the debate over immigration ever since droves of Haitian migrants arrived in the city in 2020 to fill jobs vacancies.
Willing to do the blue-collar jobs locals were unenthusiastic about, the Haitians, who were already in the country legally, moved to the town.
Within a few years, 20,000 immigrants arrived, swelling Springfields population, which was only 58,000 in 2020.
The Haitians had social security numbers and job permits, paid taxes, and lived in houses that were empty and boarded up as the town shrank.
The immigrants are there legally and eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status, according to an Immigration FAQ page on the citys website, which says the total immigration population in Clark County is an estimated 12,000 to 15,000.
But their arrival has put a strain on medical services and the education system.
In August, a city commission meeting held to address the influx of Haitian immigrants seemed to offer one of the first suggestions that the migrants were setting upon the local wildlife.
One aggrieved man made the claim during a city commission meeting last month to address the influx of legal Haitian immigrants - which has revitalized the local economy, but also sparked controversy among locals.
I really challenge you guys to get out here and do something, he told the meeting.
These Haitians are running into trash cans, running into buildings, theyre flipping cars in the middle of the streets.
Theyre in the park, grabbing up ducks by their neck, and cutting their head off and walking off with them. Theyre eating them.
Allexis T. Ferrell was charged with cruelty to companion animals amid reports she killed a cat by stomping on its head before eating it. Ferrell is a US citizen and resident of Canton, Ohio - located some 170 miles away from Springfield
Another incident last month saw a woman in Ohio arrested after she was accused of trying to eat her neighbors cat.
It was later revealed that the woman in question, 27-year-old Allexis T. Ferrell, was charged with cruelty to companion animals amid reports she killed the cat by stomping on its head before eating it.
Ferrell is a US citizen and resident of Canton, Ohio - located some 170 miles away from Springfield.
Canton police spokesperson Dennis Garren said in an email: The suspect in this case is not a Haitian immigrant. She is a life long Canton resident.
But disturbing video footage of the moment Ferrell was confronted by cops on her driveway was shared to YouTube and entitled Haitian Woman Eats Neighbours Cat in Springfield.
During last nights debate, ABCs David Muir told Trump there had been no credible reports of pets being stolen and eaten.
Trump shot back to say he did not necessarily believe what city officials were saying.
Thats a good thing for a City Manager to say, he retorted.
An Ohio woman pleaded with local officials to make some changes, after revealing that she is being driven out of her home of 45 years because of migrant activity
Among the many conservative accounts that have seized on the bizarre claims is End Wokeness.
The post combined a screenshot of an earlier Facebook post from a Springfield community group, in which one user made an alarming claim that cats and dogs were being strung up to eat by Haitian migrants, with an image of an unidentified man carrying what appeared to be the corpses of two geese.
The Facebook post read: My neighbor informed me that her daughters friend had lost her cat... One day she came home from work, as soon as she stepped out of her car, looked towards a neighbors house, where Haitians live & saw her cat hanging from a branch, like youd do a deer for butchering, & they were carving it up to eat.
Ive been told they are doing this to dogs, they have been doing it at Snyder Park with the ducks & geese.
The unsubstantiated story, when paired with the image of an unidentified man, spread like wildfire across X, garnering millions upon millions of views.
Its influence was confirmed when Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance amplified the narrative about Haitian illegal immigrants in a September 9 post on X that said: Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldnt be in this country.
The VP hopeful later walked back his claims in a following post, writing: Its possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.
But that did not stop Trump from talking about it onstage during his debate with Democratic nominee Harris.
An AI-generated image shows a fictitious Donald Trump acting as a guardian to a cat and duck after reports emerged indicating the two species were being eaten by migrants in Ohio
The Vice President dismissed Trumps claims that migrants were eating pets during the debate as unbelievable and extreme
Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance amplified the narrative about Haitian illegal immigrants in a September 9 post on X
Vance was by no means the only prominent Republican shared posts parroting the narrative on migrants eating pets and Springfield wildlife.
Among them was Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who posted a photo of kittens with a caption that said to vote for Trump So Haitian immigrants dont eat us.
Hours before Trumps debate with Harris, the former presidents team also posted two related photos on his social media site.
One Truth Social post was a photo of Trump surrounded by cats and geese. Another featured armed cats wearing MAGA hats.
Reports of people eating pets and other animals including ducks and geese remain unconfirmed, with no evidence that Haitian immigrants or anyone else have carried out such attacks in Springfield, Ohio.
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, the City of Springfield told DailyMail.com in a statement on Monday.
A Springfield police spokesperson on Tuesday added: 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.