Cops bust alleged cat-stealing ring, save 400 pets from being potentially slaughtered for their meat

Cops in Vietnam have rescued over 400 cats and begun reuniting them with their owners after an alleged “feline theft ring” to sell them for meat was busted.

The BBC reports that on June 11, cops arrested nine people in connection with a “criminal group specialising in stealing and collecting cats” after raids in Tay Ninh Province and Ho Chi Minh City last week.

Images show multiple cats kept in cages, and the report says they found 400 live cats and about 80 cat carcasses preserved on ice. An exploration of a further facility found 21 more cats, and all were intended to be killed and sold as meat. Dog and cat meat is legal in Vietnam, though the law requires anyone selling it to have a permit showing its origin.

The bust came after locals reported a wave of pet thefts in Ho Chi Minh City, with their beloved cats never returning home. The arrested suspects eventually admitted that they’d spent the last three years trapping and collecting cats across southern Vietnam.

Hundreds of cats stolen for food in Vietnam rescued by police https://t.co/WfRtuz7iNO

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 16, 2026

The report details that pets are even stolen from within their owner’s homes, with those on the street being captured using spring-loaded snares. Following this, the gang would transport them to one of their holding facilities, then sell them to traders who’d slaughter them and sell the meat on to restaurants.

“Quite a lot of tears in the last few days”

The BBC quotes Humane World for Animals as saying that cops have begun the long task of reuniting these cats with their owners, and that “around 40” have already made it back home. They praise the cops for taking “decisive action that has saved the lives of so many animals”, but strike a sad note that “a number had later died as a result of their ordeal” and that this is “a sobering reminder of the enormous scale of Vietnam’s cat meat trade”. 

Chris Gindelhumer, who works for nonprofit group Vietnam Cat Welfare, which is helping care for the rescued animals, told Channel News Asia that he had seen “quite a lot of tears in the last few days” as owners search for their missing cats. He underlined:

“It’s really beautiful to see how many Vietnamese families are coming, looking for their cats. But it’s also heartbreaking because many families were looking for their cats and didn’t find them.”

Humane World for Animals estimates that in Vietnam “five million dogs and one million cats” are stolen and slaughtered for meat each year.

Public attitudes in Vietnam appear to be shifting. A 2023 survey indicates that this trade is increasingly repellent to the public, particularly among younger people, and that a solid majority backs an outright ban on the dog and cat meat trades.