Police in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City have arrested 12 men accused of running a citywide network that stole and resold about 2,700 cats for meat, in one of the country's largest-ever crackdowns on the cat meat trade, Vietnamese state media and police said on Monday.
Night raids across Ho Chi Minh City
Police identified 39-year-old Luu Thanh Binh as the alleged leader of the ring. He and 11 others are being investigated for theft, state media said. Investigators say Binh bought stolen cats, kept them at a holding facility in the city's Thoi An Ward, and resold them into the meat trade.
To keep the supply flowing, Binh worked with recruiters who brought in accomplices and split them into small squads operating across Dong Thanh Commune, Hoc Mon Commune, Tan Thoi Hiep Ward and An Hoi Tay Ward, according to Vietnam Insider.
The crews rode motorcycles through residential neighborhoods between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., hunting for free-roaming cats. Each team trapped an estimated four to 10 cats a night using fish as bait, homemade wire snares and traps bought from Binh himself. Criminal proceedings against the 12 men began on Sunday.
A 70,000-dong-a-kilo business
The raid that cracked the network came on July 8, when police seized 50 live cats alongside 55 cat traps, two weighing scales, two fur-removal machines, 14 bags, 13 mobile phones, seven motorbikes and 6.7 million Vietnamese dong (about $257). Thirteen of the rescued cats have since been reunited with their owners, while the rest are being cared for at the animal welfare centre HavePaws.
Media reports say stolen cats were sold to restaurants for at least 70,000 dong — about $2.70 — per kilogram. The consumption of dog and cat meat remains legal in Vietnam, where many restaurants openly advertise it, but vendors must hold certificates showing the origin of the animals — a paper trail stolen pets can never have.
Attitudes are shifting
This is not the city's first bust this year. Police arrested 18 people earlier in 2026 in connection with two other cat-stealing rings, and in June a separate raid rescued more than 400 cats, at least 40 of which were reunited with their owners.
Cat and dog meat has traditionally been eaten more in northern Vietnam, but the practice is declining as pet ownership and urbanization grow — younger Vietnamese increasingly treat cats and dogs as companions. In 2024, more than 250,000 people signed a petition calling for an end to the dog and cat meat trade, and the city of Hoi An pledged in 2021 to stamp it out.
Animal welfare groups estimate that five million dogs and one million cats are captured, stolen, trafficked and slaughtered for meat in Vietnam every year, according to Humane World for Animals.
Sources: Associated Press; BBC News; AFP via The Straits Times; Vietnam Insider.
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