1,000 eateries selected to open doors for dogs

The government has allocated the first batch of permissions for 1,000 restaurants to host dogs, ending a decades-long ban on canines in eateries and unleashing a niche potential for the catering sector.

The 1,000 restaurants, randomly selected in a ballot conducted by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) on Friday, will be allowed to admit canines some time next month. The exact date will be announced later.

They were among 1,615 eateries in the draw, a number that had been whittled down from more than 2,000 applications by the FEHD on account of duplicate submissions, withdrawals and ineligible entries.

Lawmaker Chan Hoi-yan, who chairs the Legco food safety and environmental hygiene panel, said the quota could be increased in future.

She said the FEHD has already told legislators that more restaurants can be added if things run smoothly.

"But I think the first step is very important," Chan said.

"Let the people accept and have mutual respect, and then let everything run smoothly, then I think this quota can be increased in the future."

The owner of a restaurant that is among those selected, surnamed Chan, said he expects the impact to be positive for his business.

"We are enthusiastic about the result as we can now finally welcome dogs into our restaurant officially," he said.

He said he applied soon after learning about the initiative and that his upstairs cafe already has measures in place for customers with dogs.

"Actually, there have always been these dog owners bringing their pets in, so our staff are quite skilled at serving them without allowing them to disturb other patrons," he said.

"If other diners are afraid of dogs, we've basically set aside a separate area for them to sit.

"When diners make a reservation, they'll speak up and say, 'I don't like dogs, I'm very afraid of them,' we'll direct them to one corner of the restaurant that we've set aside for them and try our best not to let the dogs bother them."

A restaurant owner surnamed Fong who was not successful but has been placed on the waiting list, said he is hopeful that the government would increase the quota soon.

"A thousand slots are too few because there are so many restaurants in Hong Kong – there are possibly more than 1,000 in one district alone," he said.

"Of course, applicants are hoping for a higher number of allocations. Let's try out with 1,000 first."

Edited by Edmond Fong ...