Cat-stealing ring that took 2,700 pets for food busted by police

Vietnamese police have arrested 12 men accused of stealing nearly 2,700 cats during night raids into residential neighborhoods, taking the pets to be slaughtered for food, police and state media said on Monday.

Fur removal machines, cat traps and measuring scales were among items confiscated during investigations into the alleged cat-stealing ring in Ho Chi Minh City.

Consumption of dogs and cats is legal in Vietnam, where many restaurants openly advertise the meat, but vendors are required to obtain certificates showing the origin of the animals.

Media reports have said that stolen cats can be sold at restaurants for at least 70,000 dong ($2.70) per kilogram.

The 12 men were arrested on allegations of property theft and admitted "to stealing and trafficking approximately 2,700 cats of various types," police said in a statement.

Criminal proceedings began on Sunday, but it was not clear when the men were detained.

The suspects split into small groups and traveled by motorbike to residential neighborhoods to look for cats, the state-owned Tuoi Tre newspaper reported. The suspects mainly operated from 11:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., the outlet reported.

The network was first discovered in July, with police seizing 50 live cats alongside 55 cat traps, two scales and two fur removal machines.

Each team was estimated to have stolen between four and 10 cats per night.

Police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested 18 people earlier this year accused of being part of two separate cat-stealing rings. In June, police rescued more than 400 cats in a major bust of a cat meat crime ring in Ho Chi Minh City, and at least 40 were reunited with their owners. However, several of the cats died because of the harsh conditions they were found in, animal welfare groups said. 

"It was quite an overwhelming sight to see so many cats seized from just a single transport in Vietnam's illicit cat meat trade," said Phuong Tham, Humane World for Animals Viet Nam country director, in a statement at the time. "The sad truth about this trade is that thousands of cats every month are being stolen, trafficked and slaughtered for meat across the country, and the fate of most is to end up at a slaughterhouse or restaurant to be killed and eaten."