Police Busted A Cat Theft Ring That Stole Nearly 2,700 Pets

Police in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, arrested 12 men accused of running an organized ring that stole nearly 2,700 cats from residential neighborhoods, with investigators saying the network operated between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., sending motorcycle teams through streets to trap four to ten cats per night before transporting them to a facility run by alleged ringleader Luu Thanh Binh, 39. All 12 suspects admitted to stealing and trafficking approximately 2,700 cats and face charges of property theft under Vietnamese law. Police returned 13 of the cats confiscated in the raid to their owners, while a nonprofit animal rights group took custody of the remaining cats and is caring for them at a rescue facility while authorities work to identify their original owners and arrange reunifications.

The October arrests are part of a broader crackdown, with Ho Chi Minh City police having already arrested 18 people earlier this year on similar charges and rescued more than 400 cats in a June bust, with at least 40 of those animals successfully reunited with their families. The practice of consuming cat meat has been declining in Vietnam with growing pet ownership and urbanization, and younger Vietnamese generations are more likely to regard cats as companion animals, which has contributed to increasing public pressure on authorities to act against organized theft rings that target people's pets. Animal welfare advocates called the October arrests a meaningful step and praised the police response, while noting that the ongoing challenge lies in successfully reuniting rescued animals with the families who lost them.

Source:https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/vietnamese-police-arrest-12-suspected-cat-meat-ring-rcna602006