Cat meat trade is booming in Vietnam

Some restaurants source the animals directly from the cat catchers and slaughter them locally, but most work with wholesalers and slaughterhouses. According to and Change For Animals Foundation, the coastal cities of Da Nang and Hoi An in central Vietnam – popular with national and international tourists – are considered extremely important for the procurement and delivery of cats. “At distribution centers, wholesalers keep stolen cats cooped up in small cages for days until they collect enough animals to cover the cost of shipping. The cats are then transported hundreds of kilometers to slaughterhouses scattered throughout Vietnam without water, food or adequate ventilation. Some wholesalers even use the luggage compartments of regular passenger buses for this,” reports Lola Webber, co-founder of the Change For Animals Foundation.

In the slaughterhouses, the cats are usually drowned – provided they have not died of exhaustion, heat stroke or injuries by then. Some cats are also beaten with a hammer, boiled alive, or electrocuted. Then the animal’s skin is stripped off and the skin is burned. Only then are the cats gutted and frozen if they are to be transported further.

The cat meat trade is a profitable business. A live cat sells for around US$6.50 per kilo, and a kilo of its meat for US$8.50 (€7.50). A dish made with cat meat is available in restaurants for around US$6.50 (€5.70). According to the latest research by and Change For Animals Foundation, black cats are worth even more. Vendors sell them alive for $8.50 a kilo, and their raw flesh fetches up to $21.50 a kilo. Younger generations consider cat meat an exotic delicacy. In older people, consumption is mostly related to customs, superstitions and the lunar calendar. Thus, some locals are convinced that eating cat meat wards off bad luck. Others eat the meat — especially black cats — because they believe it has healing properties, despite the lack of scientific evidence to back it up.

In recent years, cats have become a popular pet in Vietnam – despite the increasing demand for their meat. The need can no longer be met with stray cats alone. Thus, cat catchers do not shy away from stealing pets. Violent clashes between cat thieves and pet owners, which have also ended fatally in the past, keep occurring. According to and Change For Animals Foundation, the cat meat trade is also linked to outbreaks of rabies and the emergence of zoonotic diseases similar to COVID-19. Without any controls, the animals – regardless of whether they are healthy or sick – are transported across the entire country. The unhygienic conditions in the distribution centers and slaughterhouses, which often keep a wide variety of animal species, favored the emergence of dangerous viruses.

works in Vietnam with the Change For Animals Foundation and the local animal welfare organizations Paws for Compassion in Da Nang and Vietnam Cat Welfare in Hoi An. has launched an international campaign to end the brutal trade in dog and cat meat in Southeast Asia. «Through educational work and cooperation with the responsible authorities and tourism associations, governments should be encouraged to introduce strict animal protection laws that prohibit the capture, slaughtering and eating of dogs and cats. This not only protects the animals, but also the people,” explains dr Karanvir Kukreja, veterinarian and project manager of the campaign. In addition, supports local animal welfare organizations and communities with humane and sustainable dog and cat population management programs. is also part of the animal protection coalitions DMFI (Dog Meat Free Indonesia) and ACPA (Asia Canine Protection Alliance), which lobby against the trade in Southeast Asia.

For more information see here.

also has one petition started against the dog and cat meat trade, which has already signed more than 875,000 supporters worldwide. You get to the petition here.

The detailed one report on the cat meat trade in Vietnam you can download here.

A selection of Photos of the cat meat trade in Vietnam you will find – free of charge at your disposal – here. See metadata for copyrights.

Also, you will find Here is video footage of the research into the cat meat trade. Copyright: