▲ A ring arrested in Vietnam for stealing some 2,700 cats for slaughter and consumption
Twelve people have been arrested by police in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's economic hub, for stealing, slaughtering, and selling around 2,700 cats for meat.
According to local media outlets such as VietnamNet on the 6th (local time), Ho Chi Minh City police cracked down on a cat theft ring and detained 12 male suspects in their 20s and 30s on theft charges.
Police also searched their hideout and seized 50 live cats, along with related equipment including 55 trapping cages, two scales, and two hair removal machines.
During police interrogation, the suspects confessed to stealing a total of about 2,700 cats from various locations across Ho Chi Minh City to slaughter them and sell them for food.
Police emphasized that the ring's crimes caused serious damage to public safety, social order, and residents' property rights.
Investigations revealed that the suspects operated in small groups, riding motorcycles through residential neighborhoods in Ho Chi Minh City between 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m., stealing roughly 4 to 10 cats per night.
They reportedly used a method of placing traps outside houses with cats and using pieces of fish as bait. They then slaughtered the stolen cats and supplied the meat to restaurants for about 70,000 dong (approx. 3,600 won) per kilogram.
Police have returned 13 of the 50 confiscated cats to their owners, while the remaining cats are being sheltered at an animal welfare center while procedures are underway to identify their owners.
In Vietnam, selling dog or cat meat for consumption is legal, but sellers must possess permits and sanitary licenses that can prove the origin of the meat.
However, given the lack of legal slaughterhouses for large-scale processing of such animal meat, a significant portion of the volume circulating in the market is known to be illicit and illegal meat that fails to meet these legal requirements.
(Photo: Capture from VietnamNet website, Yonhap News)
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