Police in Vietnam have seized more than 400 stolen cats in a major bust of a feline meat crime ring in Ho Chi Minh City, according to animal welfare groups and local media.

More than 40 of the rescued cats were reunited with their owners after the multiday operation last week, but several dozen of those rescued have died due to the harsh conditions they were found in, the groups said.

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This operation is “a sobering reminder of the enormous scale” of Vietnam’s cat meat trade, Karanvir Kukreja, who leads a campaign against dog and cat meat consumption for the international nonprofit Humane World for Animals, said in a statement on Tuesday.

An investigation last week into a spate of pet thefts in Ho Chi Minh City led police to track down the cat meat crime ring and detain nine people, according to local media.

Officers discovered 45 cages containing about 400 live cats and four ice-filled foam containers holding about 80 dead cats with 21 live cats recovered at a separate location, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Criminal Police Division.

The suspects admitted to trapping and collecting cats across southern Vietnam over the past three years in Ho Chi Minh City, Tay Ninh and An Giang, police said.

Millions of animals fall victim to dog and cat thieves in Vietnam who snatch animals off the streets or steal family pets and slaughter them for human consumption, Kukreja said.

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Chris Gindelhumer of the nonprofit Vietnam Cat Welfare, who is helping care for the rescued animals, said he “saw quite a lot of tears in the last few days”.

“It’s really beautiful to see how many Vietnamese families are coming, looking for their cats,” he said. “But it’s also heartbreaking because many families were looking for their cats and didn’t find them.”

Many veterinarians and volunteers are working around the clock for the cats, Gindelhumer said.

Consumption of dog and cat meat is legal in Vietnam. Vendors must have permits to validate the animals’ origins. But certain cities like Hoi An in central Vietnam are working with global animal welfare groups to stop dog and cat meat consumption.

Not long after South Korea’s 2024 ban on dog meat, Vietnamese officials said the government plans to reform parts of the legal system to better protect pets and the rights of their owners.