A restaurant in China’s Henan Province destroyed 600 sets of tableware and temporarily closed for disinfection after a diner was seen allowing a dog to sit at the table during a meal.
The incident drew widespread attention after a video showing the dog seated on a chair with its face near the food spread rapidly across Chinese social media on Tuesday, local outlet Litchi News reported.
A person holding a dog while eating at the table. Photo by Unsplash |
After watching the clip, restaurant manager Jiang checked surveillance footage and instructed staff to discard all tableware used that day, including plates, cups and chopsticks, in an effort to maintain hygiene standards.
He also said the restaurant would shut briefly so the entire premises could be disinfected.
Many internet users praised Jiang’s response, though others argued it was too extreme, wasteful or possibly intended to attract attention.
The pet owner later publicly apologized, admitting they had broken the restaurant’s rules and negatively affected both the establishment’s reputation and other customers’ dining experience.
The case is not an isolated one in China.
In late December 2025, a Beijing hotpot restaurant also shut for three days and threw away all of its tableware after a customer posted a video of her dog eating directly from a plate at the table. The restaurant later took legal action against the customer to seek compensation.
Whether pets should be allowed to dine with their owners remains controversial in many countries.
Khaosod English reported that one restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, called Ko-Ya, permits pets to eat with customers. The venue says it uses separate utensils for animals, sterilizes them at high temperatures, prepares pet food under specific standards, offers separate seating options and disinfects the restaurant every week.
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