"Illegal immigrants in Ohio are eating cats and dogs"

Question

During the Trump and Kamala debate, Trump made a wild claim that "Illegal Immigrants" are eating cats and dogs in Dayton Ohio. After digging into those claims almost every single news source went directly to the scenes in Dayton to discover the truth and as CBS News confirms there have been zero incident reports of anyone, let alone Immigrants eating any animals.

Comments

According to the title "Donald Trump Vs Kamala Harris I 'They're Eating The Dogs' I Yes, He Really Said That I Explained", the readers are able to make assumptions that this source is about Trump making statements that immigrants from Haiti are eating domestic pets. The claims made by Trump are false and we can see this from the article I have found "Trump repeats baseless claim about Haitian immigrants eating pets". This article uses true and factual evidence and we are able to observe this from how its confirmed by BBC verify and BBC News. Additionally, BBC mentions where that claim on Haitian immigrants originated from and why that claim is false. Searching up the Author, Merlyn Thomas and Mike Wendling, I was able to see that the authors are verified BBC journalists and have numerous reliable articles published further proving that this article is true.

---

Nice job in breaking down why this claim is not credible or reputable. This is a very hot claim right now and is all over social media and the news, so it is important to look deeper to figure out whether or not this event really happened. Great job!

Answer 1

To start off, I want to say that this is first and foremost incorrect. We can see on CBS news that the police completely dispute the claim: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ohio-police-dispute-new-allegations-immigrants-are-eating-pets-in-dayton/ and during the election the fact checkers themselves said that the city planner denied the claim as well. In fact, the person who orginated the claim in the first place (Erika Lee) has even came out and apologised for it: https://scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3278563/ohio-woman-behind-pet-eating-rumours-spread-donald-trump-admits-claims-are-false What is interesting about this specific claim (That Illegal Immagrants are doing it) is that there is no reported cases of this in springfield, meaning it is also false.

You can also read here if you have any more questions about the case as this article is very comprehensive and actually talks about REAL problems in springfield. It is from the BBC which is a fiarly reliable non-american source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1l4g6g5d97o

Comments

This is a good response to the claim and it is helpful how you included multiple reliable sources in your response. You also provided a link to a BBC article that showed what Springfield residents are going through. Whereas Trump's claim was racist and had no evidence or proof to support his statement at all.

---

I very much enjoyed how thought-out and well-researched your fact-check is compared to Trump's nonfactual claim. Good job providing evidence to not only debunk his claim but also explain where this news was spread from. I also love how you included a link for real issues happening in Springfield, the issues we should be focusing on.

---

You did very well at getting directly to the point. You prove clearly that Trump's statement that illegal immigrants eat pets and cats is inaccurate and false.   I can completely trust the sources you supplied because they are very reliable.   You even went above and beyond by making an effort to investigate Springfield's real problems and challenges rather than concentrating only on lies.

---

I like how you not only used multiple different sources, but the people cited and interviewed in these articles are reliable sources of information such as city planners and police officers who dispute this claim.

---

The fact-check you made on the claim you made is excellent. The points you made are concise and right to the point. In addition, I appreciate how you chose multiple sources for your claim.  The one thing that could be improved on this claim is doing a little bit more work on explaining all of the things points from the articles you linked.

Answer 2

I read through a few news articles covering this and I looked at one of the first results, a CBS News article claiming that a police chief In Dayton, Ohio came out and said; 

"We stand by our immigrant community and there is no evidence to even remotely suggest that any group, including our immigrant community, is engaged in eating pets. Seeing politicians or other individuals use outlandish information to appeal to their constituents is disheartening." 

This quote was attached with a link to said announcement, but the link wasn't loading for me so I'll attach here. www.daytonohio.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=707

The rest of the article talks about a staged video from Dayton, Ohio in those following days, that included jokily "grilling" cats. The video was debunked, and even the mayor of the Dayton county had to come out and deny any allegations or anything of the sort. 

Comments

I like how you went beyond the linked video and did your own research to discover possible sources of the information. The police chief in Dayton is definitely a reliable source, and CBS News seems to usually be a trustworthy site. I wonder if you were able to find other articles that supported the claims made in the CBS article?

---

I like that you looked into the issue and found a direct statement from the Dayton police chief. However, it could be helpful to clarify exactly why the staged video was debunked and provide a bit more context on how the false information spread!

---

Your inclusion of statements from the Police chief and the mayor of Dayton strengthen your assertion that the former president's claim is false. Adding another source to compare to would even further strengthen your own claim.

---

I like how you added onto the claim of this question post in explaining the inaccuracy of Trump's wild claim. It is definitely helpful to have the official police announcement in Ohio to add credibility in how the statement is false.

Answer 3

According to the title "Donald Trump Vs Kamala Harris I 'They're Eating The Dogs' I Yes, He Really Said That I Explained", the readers are able to make assumptions that this source is about Trump making statements that immigrants from Haiti are eating domestic pets. The claims made by Trump are false and we can see this from the article I have found "Trump repeats baseless claim about Haitian immigrants eating pets". This article uses true and factual evidence and we are able to observe this from how its confirmed by BBC verify and BBC News. Additionally, BBC mentions where that claim on Haitian immigrants originated from and why that claim is false. Searching up the Author, Merlyn Thomas and Mike Wendling, I was able to see that the authors are verified BBC journalists and have numerous reliable articles published further proving that this article is true.

Comments

Always include source hyperlinks. Thanks!

---

This is a great response but next time include the links of the website you're drawing your evidence from.

Answer 4

Donald Trump's claim that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating cats and dogs is completely false. The rumor started from a Facebook post, but the woman behind the post removed it, stating that she determined it was false after looking into it further.  According to a CBS poll, around two thirds of Trump backers say that they believe the claims are probably true or certainly true despite there being evidence disproving them. Other right-wing activists such as Charlie Kirk and Elon Musk have posted about the story online, further spreading the disinformation. Trump's running mate, Vance, doubled down on Trump's claim, stating that "The evidence is the first-hand account of my constituents who are telling me this happened" (BBC). Trump backers have also created and spread AI generated images of Trump holding or "protecting" Springfield pets. Because of these things, the claim has taken off and the disinformation has spread like wildfire. There is a large Haitian population in Springfield, Ohio, the setting of Trump's claims, and they have suffered immensely since the claim was made at the presidential debate. There have been bomb threats, many far-right groups have appeared in Springfield, and racism has spread through the community.

Trump's claims have been proven to be false and have had real consequences for the Haitian population in Springfield, Ohio because the disinformation continues to spread, despite the claim being debunked.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77l28myezko

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marco-rubio-cats-dogs-springfield-ohio-immigration/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1l4g6g5d97o

Comments

I appreciate that you tracked the claim's origins all the way back to a Facebook post which was deleted. This is a reminder of how easily misinformation can gain traction, especially when people skip fact-checking steps. Your use of sources like BBC and CBS to validate your factcheck and add reliability. It’s sad to see the impact that this claim has had on the Haitian community, your post shows the real harm of unchecked disinformation.

Answer 5

4. It is untrue and deceptive to say that people in Springfield, Ohio, are eating their pets, particularly dogs and cats. Local officials have refuted these allegations, which have been widely shared on social media, particularly in relation to Haitian immigrants. There are no reliable reports or proof to back up these allegations, according to the Springfield Police Department and city authorities. Mike DeWine, the governor of Ohio, the police, and the mayor have all condemned the untrue allegations, stating that they are the result of misinformation. Various far-right influencers and political figures have amplified these rumors, but investigations have found that they originated from unfounded reports and misinterpreted events. In summary, there is no verified evidence that immigrants, or anyone else in Springfield, are eating pets. 

 

Sources: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ohio-police-dispute-new-allegations-immigrants-are-eating-pets-in-dayton/ 

Comments

This claim is untrue, and hurtful to the community of Springfield. Thank you for providing trustworthy representatives in Springfield like the police department, governor, and mayor who debunks this. I also found a BBC article discussing how the woman who originally posted about second hand cat eating rumors later took back her statement after looking more into it and realizing that it was not true. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1l4g6g5d97o

Answer 6

This claim is false. During the debate former president Donald Trump claims that Haiti immigrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield Ohio, but this is just simply not true. After Trump made this claim, one of the moderators had fact checked him, telling the former president live on air that there had been no reports of this happening in Springfield, directly from the Springfield Police. In the article by NPR it says that they spoke with Mayor Rob Rue and they were just rumors, later confirmed by the police. .https://www.npr.org/2024/09/11/nx-s1-5108401/donald-trump-debate-eating-dogs-cats-immigrants-false-stereotype Concluding that this is not true and something that has been used as a way of Asian Hate for many years.

Answer 7

It doesn't take much research for all of us to come to the consensus that this claim, is, in fact, fake. I believe the ORIGINAL source of this rumor was a Facebook post made by a user claiming that their neighbor's daughter's, friend's cat had allegedly been 'hung on a tree branch' like it was going to be eaten, after having gone missing. This claim has been debunked by various news organizations, such as NBC, BBC and NPR.

All these sources discuss the claim as being fraudulent, and it's abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not the picture of cut clean honesty or integrity.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/false-pet-claims-springfield-ohio-mayor-says-trump-visit-strain-rcna171558

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1l4g6g5d97o

https://www.npr.org/2024/09/15/nx-s1-5113140/vance-false-claims-haitian-migrants-pets

Answer 8

he claims about illegal immigrants eating pets in Dayton, Ohio, have been widely disputed. CBS News reported that local police refuted these allegations, and fact-checkers highlighted that a city planner denied the claims during the election. Erika Lee, who initially spread the rumor, later apologized, acknowledging that her assertions were false. Additionally, there are no reported cases of such incidents in Springfield, further debunking the claim. For a more in-depth look at the situation in Springfield, the BBC provides a comprehensive article addressing real issues in the community.

Comments

This is a good base for a factcheck, although it could be improved by hyperlinking your sources, as well as citing direct quotes from the source you originated your claim from.

---

This is a great start to a factcheck, you used reputable sources just make sure to cite them.

Answer 9

A few people have claimed and called police on immigrants for carrying dead geese and cats being killed in Ohio, but there is no evidence of these incidents happening.  “There have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.” according to BBC. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77l28myezko

Comments

Great factcheck You did a good job of clearly highlighting the lack of credible evidence behind these claims, especially when it targets specific communities unfairly. Your use of the BBC’s statement really strengthens the argument, showing that there’s no factual basis for the accusations.

Answer 10

The claim is completely unsubstantiated and has been proven false by many people with firsthand knowledge. The claim was first spread through a Facebook post saying that illegal Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating the pets of residents in Springfield, Ohio. It was then spread nationwide as both former President Donald Trump, and his running mate Senator J.D. Vance, asserted the claim through various means. Multiple Springfield city and police officials have stated that there is no credible proof of these claims and that it is false. 

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/no-evidence-haitian-immigrants-stealing-eating-pets-ohio-2024-09-10/