JD Vance’s insinuation that pets are being swiped and eaten by Haitian immigrants has hit yet another embarrassing snag.
Vance’s campaign, responding to scrutiny over the hoax, shared a police report with the Wall Street Journal this week that detailed a Springfield, Ohio, resident’s claim that her cat mysteriously vanished in August. Vance’s team suggested the report was proof there was reason to fear that pets in Springfield might actually be in danger.
It turns out, however, that the missing cat named Miss Sassy was safe all along just like the kitty from Homeward Bound—also called Sassy.
Her owner, Anna Kilgore, told the Journal that her feline had a somewhat shorter voyage home. She was hiding in her basement the whole time, re-emerging a few days after she called police to report her missing.
Kilgore, who was photographed standing with a “Trump 2024” flag and wearing a shirt with the same slogan, told the Journal she apologized to her Haitian neighbors with the help of her daughter and a translation app.
Kilgore also made it a point to update a missing pet Facebook group to let them know that Miss Sassy, whom she described as being a Maine Coon, was “home safe” after emerging from “our basement.” That comment came two days after she made a plea for help finding her.
“She is part of the family,” wrote Kilgore. “Please if you have saw her or know where she is I will give you money bring her home alive.”
Springfield, a city of 58,000 situated about 45 miles west of Columbus, has had a chaotic September as unsubstantiated rumors about the stealing and eating of pets has spread like wildfire even in the absence of any evidence whatsoever.
The hoax reached a fever pitch last week when Trump, mid-way through his primetime debate against Kamala Harris, parroted the conspiracy that dogs were being eaten by migrants in Springfield.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, has since begged Trump to not visit the city out of fears it’d strain local law enforcement beyond their capabilities as it deals with a slew of threats—that includes a staggering 33 bomb threats—and general chaos.
Rue and other officials in Springfield have called the rumors “meritless,” but those assertions have done little to tame the rumor as Trump and Vance continue to use it as an attack line on Harris’ immigration record.