According to Hong Kong’s law, your neighbourhood’s dog-friendly restaurants could be breaking the law by letting animals eat and roam around their food premises.
According to the Food Environmental and Hygiene Department (FEHD), the government body that oversees restaurant licensing and ensures food is safe for consumption, it is prohibited to have dogs or other live animals on food premises under their Food Hygiene Code.
With exception to service dogs for blind persons and police dogs, “live birds, pets or animals, such as dogs and cats, except live seafood, or live poultry in fresh provision shops, are not allowed to be kept or present in any kitchen or food room of any food premises.”
The code is part of legislation that passed in 1994 titled the Food Business Regulation, which mandates that “animals are a source of contamination of food and equipment as they may carry pathogens and parasites by their bodies, hair and excreta.”
Earlier this year, a spokesperson for the FEHD commented in a public letter that permitting dogs to enter restaurants poses a health concern to elderly, children, pregnant women, and chronically ill Hong Kongers with the increased risk of transmission of communicable diseases.
Any person or restaurant business known to be permitting the presence of dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, or any live animal on the premises can be liable to a maximum fine of HKD10,000 and imprisonment for three months.
