3 from Vietnam plead guilty to serving dog, cat dishes in unlicensed Hong Kong diner
- Law enforcement seized 35kg of smuggled dog and cat meat at illegal Vietnamese restaurant in Mong Kok tenement flat, court hears
Three illegal immigrants from Vietnam have pleaded guilty to serving dog and cat dishes at an unlicensed restaurant in Hong Kong earlier this year.
West Kowloon Court heard on Thursday the trio had operated an illegal Vietnamese diner at a tenement flat in Mong Kok, where law enforcement officers seized more than 35kg of dog and cat meat reportedly smuggled into the city by water transport.
Restaurant owner Tran Quang Tan, 50, his wife Le Thi Oanh, 44, and waiter Nguyen Manh Dat, 26, are all non-refoulement claimants and de facto asylum seekers after illegally entering Hong Kong.
The three each admitted to selling dog meat as food and using dog and cat meat for consumption.
Tran pleaded guilty to operating a catering business without a licence. He, his wife and Nguyen each also admitted to unlawfully taking employment in the city.
A fourth accused, 16-year-old Tran Nhat Minh, who is the couple’s son and also a non-refoulement claimant, pleaded not guilty to three charges: selling dog meat, using dog and cat meat for consumption, and unlawfully taking employment.