Springfield grapples with false cat-eating rumours – and real problems

At first glance Springfield looks like a typical small midwestern city.

Its virtues include stately homes from the city’s heyday, a few busy downtown blocks, an art museum, a leafy campus and a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house. But not far away are areas full of decaying strip malls backed by blocks of boarded-up houses and threaded through with chewed-up, potholed streets.

Springfield’s population had been declining for decades before a few years ago, when Haitians were drawn here by the relatively low cost of living and the promise of work in local factories. City estimates of the number of Haitians here range from 12,000 to 20,000, in a city previously home to 60,000, according to the 2020 census.

Business owners and some residents have welcomed the newcomers, but some have complained about rent increases, strains on local schools and hospitals and dangerous drivers.

Tensions were amplified last year when a car driven by a Haitian immigrant hit a school bus, killing an 11-year-old boy.

And then in recent weeks came the cat rumours. They began with a YouTube clip containing a second-hand account and a Facebook post attributed to the friend of the daughter of a neighbour. The woman behind the post recently retracted her account, saying she looked further into the story and determined it wasn’t true.

But the idea that Haitian immigrants were eating pets – allegations that have long been lobbed at a variety of immigrant groups in many countries – had already gone viral. They spread to right-wing accounts with big followings, until they were repeated online by Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, and by Trump during last Wednesday’s debate.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” he said. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats.”

Following the debate, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, told BBC Newsnight people need to better understand “the weight of their words and how it can negatively affect communities”.

It’s unclear why Trump mentioned dogs – the online rumours focused on cats and also on wild ducks and geese. Local police have not recorded any cases of pets being devoured.

Independent, right-wing and pro-Trump news sources searched for evidence, in some cases offering rewards for proof of cat abduction. So far no evidence of pet eating has come to light.

Despite the false claims, Trump’s comments put Springfield in the national spotlight, increasing tensions between the Haitian community and local residents.