Vietnam police rescue hundreds of cats stolen for meat

Police in Vietnam rescued more than 400 cats in a bust of a cat meat crime ring in Ho Chi Minh City. More than 40 cats were reunited with their owners after the multiday operation last week, but several dozen of those rescued have died due to the harsh conditions in which they were found.

The operation was “a sobering reminder of the enormous scale of Vietnam’s cat meat trade,” Karanvir Kukreja, who leads a campaign against dog and cat meat consumption for the international nonprofit Humane World for Animals, said in a statement. An investigation into a spate of pet thefts in Ho Chi Minh City led police to track down the cat meat crime ring and detain nine individuals.

Officers discovered 45 cages containing about 400 live cats and four ice-filled foam containers holding about 80 dead cats, police said. Twenty-one cats were found alive at a separate location. With more than 500 cats seized, local media reported it as one of Vietnam’s largest cat welfare cases in recent years.

Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City

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