Thailand authorities to auction six rare cats

Six rare cats that were presumably acquired using drug money, are set to be auctioned off by Thai authorities next month.

Thailand’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) said the rare foreign breed cats were found at the house of a drug suspect on March 15.

ONCB secretary general Wichai Chaimongkol said the felines belonged to a suspect known as “Kook Rayong”, who ran a drug network in Rayong province.

According to a report in the Bangkok Post, the cats were impounded under the law on measures to suppress drug offenders and repossess assets acquired from the illegal drug trade.

The ONCB said some of the seized assets were unfit for storage over a long period of time.

Wichai said that keeping such assets, including the live pets and livestock, would also incur a financial burden for the ONCB.

He added that the ONCB had been paying for cat food since the felines were seized during the raid at a house in Rayong’s Klaeng district

The ONCB chief said they contacted relatives of the drug suspect who owned the cats and asked them to prove that the animals were not bought with drug money, so that they could claim the animals back.

However, none of the relatives or anyone else connected to the suspect have stepped forward to claim the cats.

Wichai said the ONCB would assess the value of the cats and set a reserve price before arranging an auction, which is likely to take place before April 14.

The ONCB is in no position to hand the cats to another state agency because it does not own them, he added.

Meanwhile, The Nation reports that the Thai Animal Guardians Association has called on animal lovers to write to the ONCB chief to suspend the auction.

The move comes after its founder Roger Lohanan failed to negotiate the cats’ release.