About 40 cats stolen to become meat to human consumption were returned to their owners after the Vietnamese cat trafficking circuit police dislocated, said today an organization to protect animals.
Nine people were arrested last week in connection with this "criminal group specializing in stealing and collecting cats", according to the city police newspaper Ho Chi Minh.
They had dead cats on ice.
Police spotted more than 400 live cats and 80 dead who had been preserved on ice, the newspaper reported.
Cat and dog consumption is legal in Vietnam, where many restaurants offer this meat freely. However, sellers must have certificates demonstrating the origin of the animals.
Police said they carried out the operation after a wave of pet thefts in the city of Ho Chi Minh.
Suspects confessed to trapping cats for three years throughout southern Vietnam. At least 40 of the stolen animals have been returned to their owners, the non-governmental organization Humane World for Animals reported in an announcement, hailing a "decisive operation that saved the lives of so many animals".
"While efforts continue to reunite stolen cats with their families, our main concern is for those who remain in the police station as evidence during the legal process," said Karanvir Kukreja, the organization's representative.
Humane World for Animals announced that it donated food and arranged the delivery of fans to help cats cope with the heat.