Haitian kills Dominican for selling him dog meat

SANTIAGO - An illegal Haitian immigrant beat a Dominican man to death with a pick for supposedly selling him dog meat instead of goat meat, police said.

Jose Pie killed Ramon Antonio Rodriguez in Esperanza, a city in the northwestern province of Valverde.

Rodriguez got into a fight with several Haitians who were angry that they had eaten dog meat that had been sold to them as goat.

The Dominican threw a stone at Pie in the middle of the argument and fled.

Pie chased Rodriguez, found him in an Esperanza neighborhood and hit him several times in the head with the pick, killing him.

Police did not say whether Pie had been caught, but they noted that Rodriguez had problems in the past with several people who were sold dog and cat meat passed off as goat meat and chicken.

According to official figures, about a million Haitians live in Dominican Republic, most of them illegal immigrants who work in agriculture and construction.

The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Though both countries are poor, Haiti is destitute, and Haitians cross the border to do work that many Dominicans will not do, such as harvesting sugar cane.

Haitians have been the target of mob violence numerous times in recent years, and the Dominican government has been widely criticized for its treatment of the migrants.

–EFE