Authorities in Vietnam's largest city have dismantled what they describe as an organized criminal operation that stole thousands of cats from residential neighborhoods and sold the animals for meat, according to state media reports.
Police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested 12 men in connection with the alleged ring, which investigators say was responsible for the theft and resale of roughly 2,700 cats. The suspects are being investigated on theft charges, state media reported Monday.
At the center of the case is 39-year-old Luu Thanh Binh, whom police identified as the suspected leader of the network. Investigators allege that Binh purchased stolen cats from a network of suppliers, housed the animals at a facility in the northern part of the city, and then resold them to buyers who wanted them for meat.
According to investigators, Binh worked with suppliers who in turn recruited others to scour residential streets on motorcycles during the dead of night. These cat catchers are said to have operated between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., when most residents were asleep and the animals were easier to snatch. Each night, investigators said, a single catcher could trap anywhere from four to ten cats.
The scale of the alleged operation underscores how lucrative the illegal cat trade can be — and how difficult it can be for pet owners to protect their animals. Because the cats were taken from streets and neighborhoods across the city, many owners may never have known what happened to their missing pets.
The raid that broke up the network took place on July 8, according to state media. When police moved in, they found approximately 50 cats at the facility along with dozens of traps, the reports said. The suspects later told investigators they had stolen and sold about 2,700 cats in total, though police did not specify how long the operation had been running.
After the raid, authorities returned 13 of the confiscated cats to their owners. The remaining animals were placed in the care of a nonprofit animal rights group while authorities worked to identify who they belonged to. The image of recovered cats being sheltered by rescuers highlights the emotional toll such thefts take on families who lose companion animals.
The case has drawn attention to a practice that, while not unique to Vietnam, has become increasingly controversial in the country. Eating dog and cat meat is practiced in parts of Asia, though it is far from common. In Vietnam, cat meat has traditionally been consumed more often in the north and among older generations, rather than in the south where Ho Chi Minh City is located.
That cultural pattern has shifted significantly in recent years. As pet ownership has grown and urban life has transformed, fewer Vietnamese regard dogs and cats as livestock or food sources. Younger generations, in particular, are far more likely to view them as companion animals deserving of care and protection. The result is a widening generational divide over a practice that was once largely unquestioned.
Some people who consume cat meat believe it brings good luck, though there is no scientific evidence to support that claim. Traditional beliefs of this kind have helped sustain demand in certain communities even as broader social attitudes change.
Public opposition to the trade has also mounted. In 2024, more than 250,000 people signed a petition calling for an end to Vietnam's dog and cat meat trade, a sign of growing grassroots pressure. The city of Hoi An had already taken a step in that direction in 2021, pledging to end the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat within its boundaries.
Still, enforcement remains uneven. Under Vietnamese law, dogs and cats are classified as private property, meaning that stealing them constitutes theft. Criminal prosecution generally applies when the value of the stolen property exceeds 2 million dong, a threshold that makes large-scale operations like the one alleged in Ho Chi Minh City vulnerable to serious charges.
The arrests may serve as a warning to others involved in similar operations, but they also raise difficult questions. Investigators have not said how long the network operated, how many neighborhoods it touched, or how many other buyers and suppliers might still be at large. Each of those unanswered questions points to the challenges facing authorities as they try to curb a trade that operates in the shadows and depends on demand that has not yet disappeared.
For animal welfare advocates, the case is both a victory and a reminder of how much work remains. The rescue of roughly 50 cats is a small fraction of the thousands the suspects say they handled. And while public attitudes are clearly moving toward treating cats and dogs as companions rather than commodities, the persistence of the illegal trade shows that cultural change and law enforcement do not always move at the same pace.
The 12 men now face potential prosecution as investigators continue to build their case. For the pet owners whose animals were recovered, the outcome offers a measure of relief. For the many others whose cats never came home, the raid may bring only belated answers about what happened to the animals they once cared for.
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