Free Republic

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—"If we only had 5,000, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now," says Reverend Barron—real name Kenneth Selig—in what’s become a common refrain in the embattled city of Springfield, Ohio. Barron, a street preacher, food truck owner, and former warehouse manager, has emerged as a colorful champion for the small city as it struggles through an unprecedented transformation. As many as 20,000 Haitian immigrants, city officials say, have arrived in Springfield since the pandemic, swelling its population to almost 80,000. Times were already tough before the rumors started swirling about migrants eating cats, dogs, and geese. "Look man,...

Police have shot a dog dead during an incident in Lincoln. A man in his 30s was taken to hospital with injuries to his arm after a disturbance in the area of Retief Close and Queen Elizabeth Road on Sunday morning. Lincolnshire Police said two dogs escaped and were a danger to the public. Officers tried to sedate the dogs with darts but one animal, which continued to be aggressive, had to be shot. The second dog was taken to a vet for treatment. Police said the specific breeds of the dogs were not yet proven, but they were not...

hile Donald Trump made baseless, dangerous claims that immigrants in Ohio were eating people’s pets in front of millions of viewers at Tuesday night’s presidential debate, Johnson Salomon, a Haitian man who moved to Springfield in 2020, was watching cartoons with his kids before putting them to bed. He got a text from a friend telling him to turn on the debate. When he saw the headlines about what the former president and Republican nominee in November’s election had said, he was in total shock. “This was a false claim. I couldn’t believe that such a high official could make...

A new remix song about one brief comment from former President Donald Trump during the debate against Kamala Harris has taken social media platforms by storm. On Tuesday night, Trump drew attention to problems in Springfield, Ohio, wrought by an influx of Haitian immigrants who have allegedly defied local laws and customs regarding animals. "In Springfield, they’re eating dogs," Trump said, referring to the Haitian immigrants. "They’re eating the cats. They’re eating ... the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame." At the time, Harris snickered with condescension...

The Springfield Police Division said Monday morning they have received no reports related to pets being stolen and eaten. A social media post originally from a Springfield Facebook group went viral nationally in recent days. The original poster did not cite first-hand knowledge of an incident. Instead they claimed that their neighbor’s daughter’s friend had lost her cat and found it hanging from a branch at a Haitian neighbor’s home being carved up to be eaten. The poster also claimed “Rangers” and police told them that “they have been doing it” at Snyder Park, too, with ducks and geese. Springfield...

Springfield, Ohio in a rust belt town hollowed out by industry offshoring, with a population of 58,000. The Biden-Harris regime decided that what they needed was a bunch of migrants, so they directed 20,000 migrants from Haiti to Springfield. They have turned the town into a Third World hell hole. The Biden-Harris regime has used a number of loopholes, including their made-up-out-of-thin-air "parole pipeline" to allow Haitians into the US One of the problems has been housing, but cultural differences are also a huge problem. The Haitians seem to view any animal they encounter as something for their dinner table,...

Four police officers in Costa Rica appeared in court in San José this Wednesday, accused of killing a dog after running it over with their patrol cars. They could face sentences of up to three years in prison for the incident. At the courthouse entrance, several animal rights advocates were protesting as they awaited the arrival of the accused. The incident occurred on August 9th in a neighborhood in the eastern part of the Costa Rican capital when the officers, in two police vehicles, were trying to exit a blocked street and ran over a dog lying on the pavement....

If you've been on Instagram or TikTok recently, you've likely come across those viral videos of dogs hitting soundboard buttons while their proud owners feign exasperation at their furry friend's seemingly eloquent demands. Who wouldn't want to give their beloved pet the opportunity to talk back in a way we can understand? Skeptics such as this biologist have unsurprisingly raised their eyebrows at this fad, which has owners claiming their dogs can use the soundboards to form near-sentences asking for food, requesting help, raising alerts, and even questioning their mirror reflection.

A woman found dead on a trail in Northern California was killed in a domestic dog attack, and authorities say that a pack of 25 Great Danes were seen "running loose in the area" at the time. An autopsy found numerous dog bites on Corbin, and a subsequent DNA test confirmed that she was the victim of a domestic dog attack. The sheriff's department said it believes Corbin was walking the trail when she was attacked. DNA analysis of Corbin's clothing is seeking to determine which dog, or dogs, bit her, and KCRA reports that none of the animals have...

Cerberus (Greek: Κέρβερος/Kérberos) was the multi-headed guard dog of Hades, the Underworld in ancient Greek mythology. The hound’s task was to guard the entrance to the Underworld and keep the living separated from the dead. The fearsome hound’s description varies according to different myths, but he is usually described as possessing three heads, a tail in the guise of a serpent, and snakes protruding from various parts of his body. The most famous myth in which Cerberus appears is the Twelfth Labor of Heracles (Latin: Hercules). Various fragments of ancient Greek pottery depicting Cerberus and Heracles have survived as well...

Bystanders armed themselves with anything they could to fend off two pit bull mixes as they brought a boy to the verge of death. A recent court filing disclosed the harrowing detail, as 3-year-old Minnesotan Covil Allen's fate is all but sealed. The court document also revealed the dogs were not full pit bulls, but a mix between a pit and an American bulldog. Known as American bullies, the dog's breed boasts especially powerful jaws that inflict more damage than those of any other breed. This likely proved fatal for Covil, who remains in critical condition. His family has made...

This is the moment police descended on Donald Trump shooter Thomas Crooks’s van which he had abandoned on a side road near the Butler, Pennsylvania, fairground on which the former president’s rally was held Saturday. Obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com the footage clearly shows officers searching the battered white vehicle from which they removed explosives after they were led across fields to its location by their K9 unit. Local resident Cheyenne Thoma whose husband Billy recorded the scenes told DailyMail.com, ‘We could hear the dogs barking across the fields. They picked up his scent apparently and that’s what led them to...

“She was shivering, and she was cold,” said one of the cavers who executed the three-hour rescue. “She clearly had been there for several days.” Jesse Rochette is an experienced caver and has stumbled upon many things below ground. He’s seen glow-worms, salamanders, giant crickets, fossils, bat colonies and crystals. But Rochette was shocked by what he and a small group of cavers found this week deep inside a cave in Giles County, Va.: a wounded dog trapped 50-feet below ground. The first thing Rochette did was offer the stranded pup a slice of salami. She snatched it right up.

Thanks for letting me share the story of how I first met my dog Flip because Sinatra the boxer reminds me so much of him. Want to help rehabilitate dogs with me?

A few years ago, in Bozeman, Montana, a brain surgeon and his wife were walking through a farmers’ market when they came across a booth selling dogs. The breeder, called Svalinn, touted them as a one-of-a-kind hybrid: military-grade protection dogs with elite danger-sensing instincts but the warmth and temperament of a conventional family pet. The surgeon, Regis Haid, took a closer look at the dogs, which did indeed seem magnificent, intelligent, and powerful. Then he saw the cost: at least $150,000 each.Haid’s wife, Mary Ellen, was interested. He told her, “There’s no way I’m gonna spend that kind of money....

These 6 Dog Breeds Are the Best for Emotional Support!An emotional support animal (ESA) can provide comfort, companionship, and plenty of therapeutic benefits if you’re dealing with an emotional or mental health issue, whether it’s anxiety, panic attacks, depression, chronic stress, ADHD, or even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).In most cases, ESAs are dogs (but it’s not a rule). Under federal law in the United States, in order to qualify as an emotional support animal, you need a prescription letter from a licensed mental health professional, like a psychiatrist, psychologist, or even therapist.Unlike service dogs, emotional support dogs don’t need any...

Hundreds of thousands of pet owners have been left without coverage after Nationwide abruptly canceled pet insurance policies earlier this month. The company suddenly announced it was dropping policies for around 100,000 pets - blaming the soaring cost of veterinary care and recent underwriting changes. In a statement on June 14, it said the policies would be dropped when they expire, which is typically between now and next summer. Nationwide said the non-renewals are not associated with the pets' age, breed or prior claims history. But an affected pet owner has dogs aged 10 and eight who have recently had...

In the first time it has issued such a decision, a federal appeals court Wednesday cleared the way for a lawsuit against a Miami-Dade County police officer who fatally shot a resident's American bulldog. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned key parts of a district judge's decision that dismissed a lawsuit filed by resident Sylvan Plowright after the shooting of his dog, Niles. The appeals court said Plowright can pursue civil claims against Officer Sergio Cordova for unreasonable seizure of property under the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. While...

When my family moved to California, we traveled in a station wagon. I think my dad should have pulled a Mitt Romney and put our dog in a cage on the roof. Instead, our dog was in the back, near me. I was 6. Our German shepherd was named Prince. I think his full name was the Prince of Darkness. He didn’t like me. For the better part of 1,000 miles, I made a conscious effort to avoid making eye contact. I could feel him staring at me. I told my parents, but they thought I was making it up....

Hollywood movies like Marley & Me or Hachi: A Dog’s Tale have brought both joy and tears to millions of viewers around the world, with their ability to capture the special bond between humans and their canine companions – aptly dubbed “man’s best friend”. In some ways, not much has changed over thousands of years. The ancient Greeks had their very own stories concerning this special relationship between man and dog. Of all the tales in Greek mythology, one of the most touching and relatable is that of the loyal dog Argos separated from his master Odysseus. Argos was Odysseus’...