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

More than 40 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 that they were found in, the groups said.

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.

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 individuals, according to local media.

Officers discovered 45 cages containing around 400 live cats and four ice-filled foam containers holding about 80 dead cats, according to Ho Chi Minh City police. Twenty-one cats were found alive at a separate location.

With a total of more than 500 cats seized, local media reported it as one of Vietnam’s largest cat welfare cases in recent years.

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

“The sad truth about this trade is that thousands of cats every month are being stolen, trafficked and slaughtered for meat across the country,” said Phuong Pham, the director of Humane World for Animals in Vietnam. “Thankfully, these survivors escaped.”

Several of the rescued cats were pregnant, leading to kittens being born in police custody this week, she said.

Chris Gindelhumer, from 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 such as Hoi An in central Vietnam are working with global animal welfare groups to stop dog and cat meat consumption in the city.

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

“This event surprised a lot of people and has raised awareness among many to stop consuming cat meat,” said An Pham, a student and cat lover in Ho Chi Minh City.