A Vietnamese restaurant that slaughtered around 300 cats each month for a soup recipe has shut down after the owner expressed moral objections to the practice. The Humane Society International said that in early December, the owner, Pham Quoc Doanh tore down the sign advertising cat meat, or "thit meo," outside his Gia Bao restaurant. As a result, 20 cats and kittens that were going to be drowned to satisfy the restaurant's demand were released and given to local adoption agencies, according to Metro UK.
"Before selling cat meat at this restaurant I served other normal food and drinks. However, the income was not enough to cover the living cost of my family. It was then I tried selling cat meat since there was no other available restaurant serving this in the area," Mr Doanh, who is a father of two children, said.
As per the Humane Society International, every year Vietnam witnesses the killing of around a million cats including stolen pets and strays for meat. The 37-year-old said that he drowned the cats by holding them with a stick in a bucket of water. "I felt sorry for them when I saw them suffering during slaughtering. It was all about money since I had to make money for my whole family," he said.
The restaurant owner received a one-time grant from the organisation to close his diner and set up a grocery shop instead. "For a while now I have felt a genuine desire to leave the cruel cat meat business and switch to something else as soon as possible. When I think of all the thousands of cats I've slaughtered and served up here over the years, it's upsetting. Cat theft is so common in Vietnam that I know many of the cats sold here were someone's loved family companion, and I feel very sorry about that," he said, adding that he is thankful that he is no longer a part of this "brutal and crime-fueled trade".
The HSI also stated that the cats who were rescued from Mr Doanh's eatery were brought to the Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry to a specially constructed shelter where they received rabies vaccinations before being placed for adoption.
"Now that I've closed my cat slaughter business, I feel more peaceful in my mind and feel confident and happy about my future without killing any more animals. I will supply a lot of products like drinks, tobacco, sweets, dry food like instant noodles, and make a living for my family that way instead," he told the outlet.
