Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have arrested a dozen men accused of running a sprawling operation that stole thousands of cats from neighborhoods across the southern metropolis and sold the animals for meat, according to state media reports.
Police named 39-year-old Luu Thanh Binh as the suspected architect of the network. He and eleven other men are under investigation on theft charges, state media said Monday, following a raid that authorities carried out on July 8.
Investigators allege that Binh purchased stolen cats, housed them at a holding facility in the northern part of the city, and then resold the animals to buyers in the meat trade. He is accused of working through a chain of suppliers who, in turn, recruited individuals to scour residential streets on motorcycles.
Those catcatchers operated under the cover of darkness, typically between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., according to investigators. Each night, the suspects allegedly trapped anywhere from four to ten cats, using methods that allowed them to move quickly through neighborhoods while residents slept.
When police moved in on the operation in July, they discovered roughly 50 live cats at the facility along with dozens of traps, state media reported. The scale of the alleged operation became clearer during questioning, when the suspects told investigators they had stolen and sold approximately 2,700 cats in total.
Authorities have not disclosed how long the network is believed to have been active. The case has drawn attention not only for its size but also for the clandestine methods described by investigators, which allegedly involved coordinated nighttime expeditions across Vietnam's largest city.
Eating dog and cat meat is not unique to Vietnam; the practice has existed in various parts of Asia for generations, though it has never been widespread. In Vietnam, cat meat has traditionally been more common in the northern regions of the country and among older generations.
The practice has been fading in recent years, a shift that experts attribute to rising pet ownership and rapid urbanization. Younger Vietnamese increasingly view dogs and cats as companion animals rather than as livestock or food, a generational change that has fueled growing opposition to the trade.
That evolving sentiment has manifested in public campaigns. In 2024, more than 250,000 people signed a petition urging an end to Vietnam's dog and cat meat trade. Earlier, in 2021, the central Vietnamese city of Hoi An pledged to halt the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat within its boundaries, becoming one of the first localities in the country to make such a commitment.
Some consumers believe that eating cat meat brings good fortune, a folk belief that persists despite the absence of any scientific evidence to support it. Such superstitions have historically contributed to demand, particularly at certain times of the year.
The raid in Ho Chi Minh City also highlighted the practical and legal complexities surrounding the trade. 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 the alleged scale of this operation would appear to surpass by a wide margin.
Following the raid, police were able to return 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 and locate their owners, state media reported.
The case underscores the challenges facing law enforcement in a country where the pet trade, the meat trade, and longstanding cultural practices intersect. While the theft of pets is clearly illegal, the broader question of how to regulate the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat remains a subject of ongoing debate among officials, animal welfare advocates, and the public.
For now, the twelve suspects face theft investigations, and the alleged leader, Binh, remains at the center of the case. Authorities have not indicated whether additional arrests are expected or whether the network's buyers and downstream sellers will also face scrutiny.
Animal rights organizations have pointed to the case as evidence of the need for stronger enforcement and clearer regulations. They argue that the theft of companion animals inflicts emotional harm on families and that the trade itself poses public health and animal welfare risks. Supporters of the trade, meanwhile, have historically framed it as a matter of cultural tradition and personal choice.
The outcome of the investigation will be closely watched in Vietnam, where public attitudes are shifting. The combination of rising pet ownership, urbanization, and younger generations' attachment to animals suggests that demand for cat and dog meat will continue to decline, even as authorities grapple with the criminal networks that profit from it.
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