Vietnam police rescue more than 400 cats from animal theft crime ring
Key takeaways
- Animal welfare groups say the bust highlights the ‘enormous scale’ of the country’s cat meat trade.
- More than 40 of the rescued 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 they were found in, the groups said.
- An investigation last week into a spate of pet thefts in Ho Chi Minh City led police to track down the cat meat crime ring and detain nine people, according to local media.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Animal welfare groups say the bust highlights the ‘enormous scale’ of the country’s cat meat trade.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo More than 500 live and dead cats were seized [Handout/Humane World for Animals Viet Nam via AP]By AFP and The Associated Press Published On 17 Jun 202617 Jun 2026Police in Vietnam have seized more than 400 stolen cats in a major bust of a feline meat crime ring in Ho Chi Minh City, according to animal welfare groups and local media.
More than 40 of the rescued 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 they were found in, the groups said.