Conservative social media accounts have recently been circulating AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump holding cats and ducks. These posts are linked to unconfirmed allegations that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are killing and eating these animals.

“They’re in the park grabbing up ducks by their neck and cutting their head off and walking off with them and eating them,” one local resident said during a recent city meeting.

The artificially created photos of Trump alongside these animals are part of a campaign to amplify a controversial narrative that urges voters to support Trump as a means to prevent Haitian migrants from allegedly harming them.

Vice presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, weighed in on the situation.

“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” Vance posted on X. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”

However, despite the spread of these allegations, no concrete evidence has been found to support the claims.

The Springfield Police Division said it has seen no incidents of pets being stolen, and no verified reports of animal killings linked to the migrant community have been filed.

Springfield has experienced a significant influx of Haitian migrants in recent years, with estimates suggesting that as many as 20,000 have relocated to the area, nearly doubling the city’s population since 2020. Many of these newcomers arrived seeking employment, drawn by the availability of blue-collar jobs in the region.

As a result, Springfield has become a focal point in the broader U.S. immigration debate, with tensions rising as locals have complained about strained public services, harassment, and increased crime. One incident involved a ​​school bus crash that was caused by a Haitian migrant veering into the wrong lane, resulting in the death of an 11-year old.

These latest claims of migrants eating pets and ducks have further fueled controversy in Springfield, though Officer Jason Via, the city’s deputy director of public safety and operations, has dismissed the stories as attempts to incite fear and hatred.

“I think it’s sad that some people are using this as an opportunity to spread hate or spread fear,” Via said. “We get these reports ‘the Haitians are killing ducks in a lot of our parks’ or ‘the Haitians are eating vegetables right out of the aisle at the grocery store’. And we haven’t really seen any of that. It’s really frustrating. As a community, it’s not helpful as we try to move forward.”

Meanwhile, a separate incident involving a woman allegedly killing and eating a cat did occur in Canton, Ohio, about three hours away from Springfield. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the woman involved in that case was Haitian.