The case of the false cat devoured by immigrants

BarcelonaDuring the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump assured without any proof that Haitian immigrants were eating the cats and dogs of Springfield, Ohio neighbors. That had no real basis, and in any normal country it would have meant the absolute disqualification of the politician, but in the United States, as everyone knows, Trump won the elections by a landslide. I have thought about this in recent days, seeing that some Spanish media, mostly from the 'fatxosfera' (far-right sphere), have published news denouncing that immigrants from Ceuta devour cats, pigeons, seagulls, and any other animal that runs in the street. In one of these news items, a photograph was attached showing a dead cat next to a dumpster. Fortunately, the Efe agency's fact-checking service carried out the relevant checks and ruled that the photograph was neither from now nor from Ceuta, but was from 2025 and from Gran Canaria.

Evidentemente, there is also no proof that this is happening. It is true that some volunteers who feed the cat colonies in Ceuta have reported that some have disappeared, but nothing more.

In any case, and returning to Trump's case, to gauge the effect of the news, one only needs to read the comments, in which immigrants are described as "savage invaders", in what is a premeditated process of dehumanization of a group that, for my part, reminds me of the treatment that independentists received during the Process. Or like when Jews were accused of killing children to use their blood in rituals. But this is the key: when you dehumanize an entire group, then you can no longer feel any empathy for the individual people who are part of it. And how can you feel empathy for a person who kills and devours cats?