Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have dismantled what they describe as a large-scale criminal network that stole thousands of cats from neighborhoods across the city and sold the animals for meat, according to Vietnamese state media reports. Twelve men were arrested in connection with the operation, which investigators say targeted household pets and free-roaming cats during overnight raids on residential streets.
Police have identified 39-year-old Luu Thanh Binh as the alleged mastermind behind the scheme. According to state media accounts released Monday, Binh and the eleven other suspects are being investigated on theft charges. The case represents one of the largest suspected animal-trafficking operations uncovered in Vietnam in recent years, both in terms of the number of suspects detained and the sheer volume of animals involved.
Investigators allege that Binh served as the central buyer in the operation, purchasing cats that had been stolen by a network of suppliers and holding the animals at a facility in the northern part of the city. From there, authorities say, the cats were sold onward for their meat. The suppliers, in turn, worked with recruiters who enlisted individuals to carry out the actual thefts, according to the state media reports.
The method described by police was systematic and brazen. Recruiters allegedly sent people out on motorcycles to comb through residential neighborhoods during the dead of night, operating between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. when streets were quiet and residents were most likely to be asleep. Working in those early morning hours, each catcher was reportedly able to trap between four and ten cats in a single night.
Police moved against the network on July 8, conducting a raid that yielded approximately 50 live cats and dozens of traps, according to the state media accounts. During questioning, the suspects reportedly confessed to having stolen and sold roughly 2,700 cats in total, a figure that suggests the operation had been running for a considerable period. Investigators have not disclosed how long they believe the ring was active.
The fate of the cats recovered in the raid reflects both the scale of the problem and the difficulties facing authorities. Police were able to return 13 of the confiscated animals to their owners, but the majority remained unidentified. A nonprofit animal rights organization stepped in to care for the remaining cats while authorities continued their efforts to locate the people who had lost them.
The case has drawn attention to a cultural practice that has been gradually fading in Vietnam but persists in certain segments of society. The consumption of dog and cat meat is not exclusive to Vietnam and has been documented in various parts of Asia, though it has never been a mainstream practice in most of the region. In Vietnam, cat meat has traditionally been more common in the northern part of the country and among older generations.
Several forces have contributed to the decline of the trade in recent years. Rising pet ownership across Vietnam has shifted public attitudes, particularly among younger people who are far more likely to view dogs and cats as companion animals rather than as a food source. Urbanization has also played a role, as city dwellers increasingly form bonds with household pets and the traditional contexts in which the meat trade operated have eroded.
Public opposition to the practice has grown increasingly visible. In 2024, more than 250,000 people signed a petition urging an end to Vietnam's dog and cat meat trade, a sign of shifting social sentiment. The central Vietnamese city of Hoi An had already taken a step in that direction in 2021, when it pledged to end the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat within its boundaries. Such developments suggest that the practice, while not eliminated, is facing mounting pressure from a changing society.
Some proponents of eating cat meat have long believed the practice brings good luck, a claim that has no scientific backing. Animal welfare advocates argue that such beliefs, combined with demand for the meat, have fueled a black market in stolen pets that causes significant distress to families who lose their animals. The Ho Chi Minh City case illustrates how that demand can translate into organized criminal activity.
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 stolen property exceeds a threshold of 2 million dong, a sum that makes large-scale operations like the one allegedly run by Binh vulnerable to serious legal consequences. The classification gives authorities a legal basis to pursue animal theft cases even in the absence of dedicated animal cruelty statutes.
The case also highlights the challenges that pet owners face in a market where stolen animals can be quickly moved through a network of buyers and resellers. Because the cats are treated as property under the law, recovery often depends on owners being able to identify their animals and on authorities intercepting shipments before they reach the point of slaughter. In this instance, only a small fraction of the confiscated cats were reunited with their families.
For animal welfare organizations operating in Vietnam, the raid represents both a success and a reminder of the work that remains. The nonprofit that took custody of the unclaimed cats must now provide shelter, food, and veterinary care while the legal process unfolds, a logistical burden that falls on the organization rather than the state. Meanwhile, the broader trade continues in other parts of the country, sustained by demand that has proven difficult to extinguish.
The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not indicated whether additional arrests are expected or whether the suspects have retained legal representation. The twelve men in custody face theft charges that could carry significant penalties depending on the final valuation of the stolen animals and the scope of the operation as determined by investigators. For now, the case stands as a notable example of Vietnamese law enforcement treating the theft of pets as organized crime rather than a minor nuisance.
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