Dog meat found in Tijuana Chinese Restaurant

Inspectors find corpse; 5 other eateries shut down

 APRIL 9, 2015

 

TIJUANA — Chinese restaurants across Tijuana have been suffering a sharp drop in customers this week following the discovery that workers at one establishment had been killing dogs and cooking their meat.

Two days after authorities shut down Restaurant Lo Yen City, in the heart of a working class community several miles from downtown, three Chinese nationals and two Mexicans remained in custody on Thursday. The Baja California Attorney General’s Office is expected to decide Friday whether to file charges of animal cruelty.

Wang Jian, China's consul general in Tijuana, during a news conference Thursday. Photo by Sandra Dibble

The incident has put the spotlight on a community that has long been part of the fabric of the city but largely remains low profile. The Chinese Consulate estimates that some 8,000 Chinese live in Tijuana, with many working in the restaurant industry. The city’s restaurant chamber estimates there are some 500 Chinese restaurants in Tijuana.

As news of Tuesday’s discovery has spread, many Chinese restaurants in the city have seen their business decline. Wang Jian, head of the Chinese Consulate in Tijuana, said that one owner reported that his daily sales had dropped by 90 percent.

Early Thursday afternoon, not a customer was in sight at Restaurant Palacio Royal, a well-known 42-year-old Chinese establishment on the city’s bustling Agua Caliente Boulevard.

“We’ve had clients, but not like before,” said head waiter Homero Trinidad, looking out over the empty tables.

Since Tuesday’s discovery, municipal inspectors have shut down five other Chinese restaurants for being in violation of city health standards, or for problems with their paperwork. In one restaurant, they reported finding caged dogs on the premises, as well as blood and dog hairs in the vicinity, but no dog corpses.

Located in Tijuana’s Colonia Obrera on Fundadores Boulevard, Lo Yen City drew the attention of municipal inspectors after police responded to a report of a dog’s plaintive cries from the restaurant property. Video footage from Tijuana reporters on the scene with inspectors showed at least one dog’s shaved corpse, as well two live animals.

Lee Roy Kumano, who owns a cellphone business near the restaurant, said the restaurant’s operators “were very serious,” and that the food “was very good.” After the incident, he said, members of a U.S. animal rescue group arrived to pick a surviving animal, while Tijuana media reported that a 2-year old female had been taken to the city’s dog pound.

Wang Jian, the Chinese consul, portrayed the Lo Yen incident as isolated.

“This was illegal, and should be repudiated,” he said during a news conference Thursday morning at Tijuana’s Tourism and Conventions Committee. “This should not be cause to collectively punish all Chinese restaurants, it would be an injustice to a sector so closely tied to the life of Tijuana and the entire country.”

Leaders of the Chinese community issued a statement condemning the incident, saying that “we Chinese are educated to always respect traditions and cultural customs,” and saying it does not reflect overall conditions. “We are certain that the people of Tijuana have the judgment and the wisdom to not consider an individual event as the idiosyncrasy of all Chinese restaurants.”

The issue of dog meat consumption in China, a tradition in some parts of the country, came up during the news conference. The consul told reporters that the consumption of dog meat is the exception in his country, and that “one must recognize that there is a growing general consciousness in China on caring for dogs and not killing them.”

In Tijuana, the head of the city’s restaurant association, Martín Muñoz, said his group was prepared to work with Chinese restaurant owners to make sure that their workers receive proper training. “We want to strengthen our ties, and to ensure that this kind of incident does not happen again,” he said. “They’ll have all the support of the chamber.”