Source: Hong Kong Information Services
The Food & Environmental Hygiene Department today announced that the first month of allowing dogs into permitted restaurants has been generally smooth, with the number of participating eateries rising from about 940 to over 980.
Over the past month, the department’s dedicated team inspected catering premises across various districts to offer support and raise compliance awareness among operators and customers through publicity and education.Â
With the one-month adaptation period ending today, the department said it will now conduct risk-based inspections and take immediate enforcement action against non-compliance without prior warning.
As of yesterday, officers had conducted about 29,600 inspections of permitted restaurants, issuing 77 verbal warnings, and taking enforcement action against serious breaches.
Enforcement actions included issuing warning letters to three permitted restaurants for persistent non-compliance regarding cooking or heating food on dining tables. Two prosecutions were also instituted for failing to keep dogs securely on leashes.
Additionally, officers proactively inspected non-permitted restaurants, initiating six prosecutions against operators who allowed dogs to enter their premises in breach of the regulation.
The first phase of the measure has a quota of 1,000 restaurants. The department reminded operators to carefully consider their market positioning, customer base and operational conditions before applying, and to ensure sufficient preparation.
A waiting list mechanism is in place to ensure that when individual restaurants withdraw, released quotas are reallocated swiftly and orderly.