About 40 cats stolen for human consumption have been returned to their owners after Vietnamese police dismantled a cat trafficking ring, an animal rights group said on Tuesday.
Nine people were arrested last week in connection with this "criminal group specializing in stealing and collecting cats," according to the Ho Chi Minh City police newspaper.
They had dead cats in ice.
Police found more than 400 live cats and 80 dead ones that had been preserved on ice, the newspaper reported.
Eating cats and dogs is legal in Vietnam, where many restaurants freely offer the meat. However, vendors must have certificates proving the origin of the animals.
Police said they carried out the operation following a wave of pet thefts in Ho Chi Minh City.
The suspects confessed to trapping cats for three years across southern Vietnam. At least 40 of the stolen animals have been returned to their owners, the non-governmental organization Humane World for Animals said in a statement, hailing a "decisive operation that saved the lives of so many animals."
"While efforts are ongoing to reunite stolen cats with their families, our main concern is for those remaining at the police station as evidence during the legal process," said Karanvir Kukreja, the organization's spokesperson.
Humane World for Animals announced that it donated food and arranged for the delivery of fans to help the cats cope with the heat.
Source: protothema.gr
