Food Premises Permitted to Admit Dogs: On-site Management by Restaurant Owners/Staff

This Guideline is applicable to local food premises permitted by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) to admit dogs, and is for reference of licensees, restaurant owners, managers, and frontline staff in handling situations such as dogs' barking, lunging at people, loss of control, hygiene issues, and uncooperative dog owners in the absence of government officers.

Basic Principles

Licensees must ensure that their premises are operated in accordance with the licensing conditions of the FEHD, the relevant food safety requirements and the Guidelines on Good Practices and Behaviour. If any non-compliance or dangerous behaviour is observed, staff should know how to deal with it immediately and report it to their supervisors.

In the event of any imminent danger, injuries, dogs' chasing or biting people, ensure the safety of everyone on the premises first and call the Police immediately. If the dog remains uncontrolled, the Police will immediately refer the case to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) for on-site follow-up. If the dog is already under control, AFCD will contact the dog owner for follow-up upon receiving the referral from the Police. Should the dog owner or the restaurant operator be found to have violated food business regulations or licensing conditions, the FEHD will take follow-up action upon receipt of the report. (Members of the public may call 1823 to make suggestions, enquiries, or complaints.)

Steps for On-Site Handling of an Incident

Step 1	Assessing risks
	First, promptly determine which of the following categories the incident falls into: normal barking, persistent nuisance, lunging at people/chasing, biting people, defecation/soiling, or dog owners' refusal to cooperate.
	If a dog shows signs of rushing forward, baring teeth, lunging at people, chasing, fighting or biting, it should be regarded as a high-risk situation and should not be handled by way of mere general advice.
Step 2	Issue verbal instructions immediately
	The restaurant owner or staff should immediately require, in a clear and concise manner, the dog owner to control the dog by, for examples, shortening the dog leashes, bringing the dog back to his seat, stopping the dog from approaching other customers or removing the dog from the indoor area immediately.
	If the relevant requirements are already stated in the house rules, enforce them directly, and avoid getting into arguments with the dog owners over legal details.
Step 3	Separate the crowd and ensure the safety of the scene
	If the situation is escalating, arrange for the affected customers to leave the scene first, prevent other customers from gathering around, provoking, or touching the dog, and suspend seating new customers near the incident location.
	Any food, utensils or hot drinks near the incident location should be removed as soon as possible to reduce risks to people and food safety.
Step 4	Take measures as appropriate
	For a general disturbance where the dog owner is cooperative, request the owner to make prompt improvements, for examples, to calm the dog, reduce stimuli, take the dog to a location with fewer people, or temporarily remove the dog from the premises and decide whether to return after calming it down.
	If a dog is persistently out of control, or if it lunges at people, chases around, creates a panic or poses a safety risk to other customers, the licensee should ask the dog owner to immediately leave the premises with the dog. In the case of non-cooperation or imminent danger, call the Police immediately.
Step 5	Record and report
	Record and report to the shop manager or the licensee the time of the incident, the table number/location, distinguishing features of the dog involved, details of the individuals involved, measures taken by staff, whether anyone was injured, and whether CCTV footage is available.
	If the incident involves a bite (Under the Rabies Ordinance (Cap. 421), its keeper must immediately report the incident to the nearest police station without delay), fighting dog or a known dangerous dog, severe loss of control, or a possible breach of the FEHD’s licensing conditions, consideration should be given to making a follow-up report to the Police, the AFCD or the FEHD.

In the Event of Inadequate Management

If a restaurant operator is aware that a dog is persistently out of control, lunging at people, chasing, biting, defecating, or violating the house rules but fails to intervene, request the owner's cooperation, consider asking the owner to leave, or report the case to the concerned government department or the restaurant management when necessary, this may be regarded as inadequate management that fails to meet the requirements on good practice. It may also pose risks regarding the conditions of the license or permission.

If a situation poses an immediate danger but the restaurant operator still adopts an indifferent attitude, this may not only pose licensing risks but also increase the risks of civil liability and on-site injuries.

For full text of the Code of Practice, please refer to the document below (Chinese only)

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