Vietnam, where cats have been viewed in the past as food, hosted its firstever cat show on Sunday (Feb 16), gathering around 60 pedigree cats withfeisty stage names such as Angry Alice, Di Maria The Great and Timosa Sumo.

The show, run by the World Cat Federation, the world’s largest federation forcats, featured a dozen different breeds. Event organiser Nguyen Xuan Son saidthe aim was to make people see that cats are worthy of love.

“We also want to form a national playground for pet owners to practice andgain experience before competing in international shows,” Son added.

Vietnam introduced a ban on eating cats in 2018.

“In a country where cats are still served as foods and stray cats beingmistreated are popular, the event is a chance to raise awareness amongpeople,” said Nguyen Dieu Hong, one of the attendees.

“Cat is not a sign of bad luck as many Vietnamese think and should be filledwith love.”

Over the course of a day, judges poked and prodded the animals, felt theirfur, stroked their tails, looked at their teeth and tested their agility.

Seven cats won “best of class” awards and one, Timosa Sumo, won the heart notjust of judges but of the public, which applauded him enthusiastically.

The blueish grey cat is of Scottish Fold breed, but owner Dinh Chau Hieu Tamsaid it was not just his beauty that made him a crowd favorite.

“He spreads the love to everyone,” Tam said.

“He is my furry son. I just love him and am proud of him so much.”

Image: Vice chairman of World Cat Federation Albert Kurkowski presents firsttitle to the cat of Nguyen Xuan Son of Vietnam and second title to the cat ofTawin Prai of Thailand during the Vietnam’s first cat show in Hanoi, VietnamFebruary 16, 2020. REUTERS/Kham

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