Eating domesticated animals and pets like cats, ducks, dogs, horses, and iguanas, may be news to Middle Americans, but in places like South Florida, eating and sacrificing these kinds of animals is seen as just another day in the Miami boogie down according to one lawmaker. Pet-eating is occurring.
According to Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R), hearing of people eating animals like cats, horses, ducks, and iguanas, “is not new” to South Floridians, and “it does happen.”
“It could be comical except for the fact that we have seen – and it’s not new, case after case– we had in South Florida, we had an issue when people were butchering horses,” said Rep. Diaz-Balart in an exclusive interview with The Floridian. “ We’ve also had other instances of people eating cats and ducks, iguanas. And So, I get that it could be kind of comical, but it’s not comical if it happens. By the way, it does happen.”
Rep. Diaz-Balart’s claim that domesticated animals have been eaten by residents—most likely by immigrants— in the past appears to be very accurate.
Just this past year, three horses were stolen from a Southwest Miami-Dade farm and slaughtered for their meat.
In 2023, another individual from the City of Hialeah was also arrested and charged for harvesting horse meat.
Those pesky and invasive iguanas that fall from trees are also on the dinner menu in South Florida.
“In Springfield, (migrants are) eating the dogs...The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating... they’re eating the pets of the people that live there."—President Donald Trump
You may not be throwing a green iguana on the grill before the Miami Dolphins take the field, but many Islanders, Mexicans, Central, and South Americans, lick their chops at the thought of sinking their teeth into a well-cooked lizard, this is according to a past USA Today story.
In addition, Rep. Diaz-Balart’s claim is also substantiated by the practices of the voodoo-like religion of Santeria.
In Santeria, any kind of animal can be used in its sacrifices, sacrifices that are protected by the U.S. Constitution.
According to Santeria, “Eating the sacrificed animal is considered a sharing with the Orisha, who only consumes the animal's blood, while the worshippers eat the meat. Sacrificial animals include chickens (the most common), pigeons, doves, ducks, guinea pigs, goats, sheep, and turtles.”
Santeria got it’s start in Cuba, but voodoo also exists in Haiti, where Haitians sacrificing and eating of “Cats” and other animals, has been known for decades.
In a recent NewsMax interview, ex-NFL player Jack Brewer made the claim that in his 15 mission trips to Haiti, Haitians are not only eatihg dogs and cats, but other human beings.
"You can point to facts that show that in Haiti, not just are they eating animals, but they're eating humans," Brewer said. "There's cannibalism in Haiti going on all the time. I have, literally, I have videos on my phone of people eating other people and sacrificing other people. And so no one can tell me that this doesn't happen, because my orphanages in the Christian organizations that I support on the ground are dealing with this mess in the country."
The claim by former President Donald Trump and his Vice Presidential running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, that Haitian immigrants were eating domesticated pets, like dogs and cats, took the nation by storm with many detractors and media outlets dismissing the allegation as bogus.
Since the claim was made, multiple Ohio residents living the city of Springfield have publicly made claims that Haitian immigrants are eating their pets, and have been feasting on ducks and geese.
Democrats have dismissed those individuals who made the allegations of immigrants eating cats and dogs, and simple “Quacks.”
Are immigrants eating domestic pets?
Maybe.
Back in 2018, then-President Donald Trump signed the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act of 2018, prohibiting the slaughter and sale of dogs and cats for "human consumption."
If cats and dogs weren't being eaten, why would a bipartisan legislative measure have to be drafted to prevent dogs and cats from being served up for dinner?
