Media reports and social media discussions about the cat-carrying truck incident and the girl’s 1,600km journey to find her pet cat have raised public concerns about dog and cat theft in China.

The cat’s owner, a woman surnamed Zhang, lives in Huzhou (Zhejiang, China). Her cat went missing on January 5. “That day, my mother said she had not seen the cat anymore. Because cats are raised free-range in the countryside, they usually come home after a day out. The cat did not come home the night before, so my family thought it was lost.”

Zhang’s Cat Mantou

The British cat, named Mantou, was wearing a tracking device around its neck when it disappeared, allowing Zhang to trace the cat to neighboring Jiangsu province.

“Even if it got lost or was taken by someone else, it couldn’t have traveled such a long distance,” Truong said.

Zhang suspected that his cat had been stolen and reported it to the police. However, after reviewing the camera footage, the police said they could not find any conclusive evidence of theft and did not proceed with the investigation.

However, Zhang noticed that Mantou’s tracking device had moved further south and towards Guangzhou. She decided to track the cat herself and flew to Guangzhou on January 7, suspecting that this was where the Mantou thief was gathering.

Truck Full of Cats

“I saw a lot of cat-catching vehicles online before, they were being transported to Guangzhou. This afternoon, I found that the cat’s GPS had moved to Jiangxi Province.” Seeing that the GPS had not stopped, Truong decided to go there that night.

Before boarding the flight, Truong posted the story of the lost cat on social media to ask for help: “My cat was stolen and is being transported to Guangzhou on the expressway. Who can help me? Which agency should I call when I arrive in Guangzhou?”

Local cat rescue volunteers in Guangzhou saw the post and set up a WeChat (Chinese messaging app) group to help Zhang find Mantou.

While Zhang was on the flight, local volunteers in Guangzhou found Mantou and several other cats on a truck.

“About 10 volunteers came to the scene to help me find the cat. Initially, they wanted to help me stop the cat transport vehicle, but they did not know the license plate number and were afraid of danger,” Zhang said. When he boarded the plane, Zhang discovered that the GPS had stopped, so the volunteers tracked it to this address. “It took them three hours to find the cat transport vehicle. The vehicle was parked under a bridge in Baiyun District.” Mantau and two other cats were found in the truck.

After finding Mantou, Zhang contacted the local police and police from Songzhou Police Station in Baiyun District, Guangzhou arrived at the scene.

The truck driver said the cats were given to him by his friends. The police did not file a case after investigating, and the punishment for the cat driver is unclear. The remaining cats were taken away by the police and handed over to local animal rescue volunteers. They will publish the information, hoping that the owners will come forward to claim them.

The cats in the truck were seized by police and later handed over to a local dog and cat rescue team.

“I was very lucky. The volunteers who helped me find the cat said it was a ‘miracle’ that I found it. In fact, many cats now wear trackers, but they can be removed after they are caught,” Zhang added. “Mantau’s tracking device was worn under his neck, which was quite difficult to see. Moreover, the cat was very fat, so it was lucky that he was not discovered. Without the tracking device, there was really nothing else I could have done.”

Truong shared with reporters that she lost her beloved dog when she was young and always regretted it, which motivated her to find her beloved cat at all costs.

Source: SCMP, Zhihu