Springfield City Manager Debunked Cat-Eating Story to JD Vance Aide Shortly After it Was Posted — And Remained Unchanged

Republican running mate Senator JD Vance (R-OH) amplified the bizarre and controversial rumor that Haitian immigrants were eating people’s pets in the Ohio city of Springfield despite the fact that city officials had already debunked the claim.

City Manager Bryan Heck recounted to the Wall Street Journal how he received a startling call on September 9 from a staffer of Vance: “He asked point-blank, ‘Are the rumors true of pets being taken and eaten?’”

His response was unequivocal: “I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true.”

However, Vance had already shared the false claim with his 1.9 million followers on X. Regardless of the facts, the post remained up, and by the next morning, the narrative had escalated, pushed by the Trump campaign in an email to supporters as an attack on Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’s immigration record. Former President Donald Trump also then repeated the claim on the national debate stage: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs…they’re eating the cats of the people that live there.”

Despite the baseless claims, city officials were unable to stem the flow of misinformation.

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a registered Republican, said the falsehoods had been “repeated and doubled down on,” despite local efforts to debunk them. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, also Republican, dismissed the claims as “crazy” and “false.”

Meanwhile, Vance insisted on CNN that he had “firsthand accounts” of the incidents, adding provocatively, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention… then that’s what I’m going to do.”

The growing fallout was swift and dangerous. The city faced bomb threats, evacuations, and school closures.

In response to the Wall Street Journal’s request for evidence on Tuesday the Vance campaign forwarded a single police report made by a Trump supporting Springfield resident Anna Kilgore as proof.

Kilgore had reported to police that she suspected her missing cat, Miss Sassy, had been taken by her Haitian immigrants.

A Wall Street Journal reporter visited Kilgore at home on the evening of September 12 only for her to reveal that Miss Sassy had been found safe and sound—hiding in her own basement.

“I was relieved, of course,” Kilgore said, wearing a Trump shirt and hat. “I had no idea where she was, but she never left the house.”

Kilgore, embarrassed by the situation, said she had apologized to her Haitian neighbors with the help of her daughter and a translation app.

“I didn’t mean to cause any harm,” she explained. Despite the miscommunication and even though Kilgore’s own case had been resolved peacefully, the rumor about pet-eating persisted in the national political arena.

Vance’s team, meanwhile, have continued to reference the incident.