evidence: August 12, 2020 – While the trade and consumption of dog meat in Asia is increasingly being discussed in public, the equally brutal cat meat trade is still relatively unknown. Global animal welfare organizations FOUR PAWS and Change For Animals Foundation have now released the findings from their investigations into the country’s illicit cat meat trade, exposing the true extent of the hidden trade. In Vietnam alone, an estimated one million cats every year – including strays and pets – are stolen from the streets and even from people’s homes, trafficked across the country and brutally slaughtered. [...] In contrast to the local dog meat trade, the hunting, slaughtering and consumption of cats was explicitly illegal in Vietnam until January 2020. However, the law has been revoked and there is now more demand than ever for cat meat. This is particularly true in the north of the country, but its popularity is also spreading to other parts of Vietnam as far south as Ho Chi Minh City. The investigations by FOUR PAWS and Change For Animals Foundation identified Hanoi and the Thai Binh province as Vietnam's cat meat hotspots, with their large networks of hundreds of restaurants, holding areas and slaughterhouses. To meet the increasing demand, free roaming stray and pet cats are captured and sold alive to wholesalers or directly to restaurants for slaughtering. According to the organizations, there are no farms in Vietnam where cats are bred specifically for the meat trade.