The seizure happened after traffic police in the central province stopped a passenger bus that had departed from HCMC and was on its way to Hanoi. The carcasses and entrails were packed in styrofoam boxes in the truck of the bus. The boxes were stinking, police said.

The bus’s 42-year-old driver, Dinh Minh Hieu, did not have any documentation for the cargo. He only said the meat was being taken to Hanoi for consumption.

Under current laws, the police will investigate concerned people for "transporting goods of unknown origin." There are no laws related to killing, selling and eating of cat and dog meat in Vietnam.

In March 2019, hundreds of cat carcasses were found on a trans-Vietnam bus going from the northern province of Thai Binh Province to the southern province of Binh Duong. Local police confirmed the meat was meant for the local restaurant industry, but failed to determine the origin of the meat.

Earlier this year, police in central province of Ha Tinh seized 600 kilos of frozen cat carcasses from a passenger bus traveling from the south to the north.

Vietnam is rated as one of two worst-performing countries in Asia in terms of policies and laws to protect animals, according to a report released last month by World Animal Protection, an international animal welfare charity organization.