3 from Vietnam jailed for running illegal Hong Kong diner selling dog, cat meat
Trio are illegal immigrants who had operated restaurant from tenement flat in Mong Kok
A Hong Kong court has sentenced three illegal immigrants from Vietnam to 17 months and two weeks in jail for working at an unlicensed restaurant selling dog and cat meat.
The trio’s defence lawyer told West Kowloon Court on Friday her clients did not know selling and eating dog and cat meat was illegal in Hong Kong, as they came from a country where the consumption of these animals was acceptable.
The Vietnamese diner owner, Tran Quang Tan, 51, earlier pleaded guilty to operating a catering business without a licence. He hired his wife, Le Thi Oanh, 44, and his son-in-law, Nguyen Manh Dat, 26, to work in the restaurant at a tenement flat in Mong Kok earlier this year. The two had admitted to working illegally in the city.
All three of the defendants also pleaded guilty to selling dog meat as food and using dog and cat meat for consumption.
Magistrate Gary Chu Man-hon said that selling the meat not only violated the law but also aggravated their crime of illegal employment in the city as non-refoulement claimants, who did not have the right to work.
Law enforcement raided the flat in February and uncovered a haul of animal flesh stored in 34 bags, which were believed to have been smuggled into the city by boat. The court heard the bags contained 5.4kg (11.9lbs) of dog meat and nearly 4kg of cat meat.
“The amount of dog and cat meat was quite extensive. Obviously, it involved many poor dogs and cats,” the magistrate said.
