A Vietnamese police operation rescued about 400 pet cats destined for the dinner plate, uncovering a nationwide racket fuelling the country’s rampant pet meat trade that uses a criminal corridor running from the south to the north.
Hundreds of desperate cat owners rushed to a Ho Chi Minh police headquarters over the weekend to see if their lost pet was among the cats rescued from traffickers by police.
In what is believed to be one of the largest busts of its kind, police said the cats were found after officers smashed a network that allegedly stole and trafficked the creatures for sale across provinces, according to state-controlled news portal Tuoi Tre.
While consumption rates are slowly declining as cultural mores change, eating dog and cat meat is legal in most of Vietnam, mainly at street stalls and restaurants.
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However, sellers must have permits to prove the animal was not part of a rampant trade in stolen pets, where brazen thieves on motorbikes break into properties and use nets and catchpoles to scoop up domestic animals for criminal gangs who trade the meat.
Vets, owners and cat lovers descended on the Ho Chi Minh police precinct to help feed and care for the felines, some of whom were in poor health and had just given birth to kittens.
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“People who lost their cats can come to the police station to identify their pets and help police with the investigation,” police official Nguyen The Bao told Tuoi Tre.
Nine suspects are in Vietnamese custody, according to Humane World for Animals, an NGO that lobbies to end the pet meat trade.