DAYTON — The Dayton Police Department is speaking out after a social media video claiming migrants in Dayton ate cats went viral.
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The video was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, just after 8 a.m. on Saturday, claiming African migrants “barbecued” cats last summer.
It shows what appears to be at least one skinned animal on top of a grill in a yard and several cats roaming around.
The post gained traction and has over 13 million views and 17,000 reposts.
Republican Vice-Presidential nominee and U.S. Senator JD Vance reposted the video saying in part, “another ‘debunked’ story that turned out to have merit.”
A few hours later, the Dayton Police Department released a statement saying it “strongly refutes the information being put out on social media or other avenues about our immigrant community.”
“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.”
— Kamran Afzal, Dayton Police Chief
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey J. Mims also posted a statement on the “baseless claims on social media.”
In part, Mims said, “There has been absolutely zero reports of this type of activity and spreading such misinformation undermines our status as a welcoming city.”
The video was posted just days after rumors of Haitian immigrants abducting and eating people’s pets in Springfield garnered national attention.
As previously reported on News Center 7, Springfield leaders said there were no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused.
“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. Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes. Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic.”
— Karen Graves, Springfield Strategic Engagement Manager
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