The Sunshine Restaurant, one of Guangzhou’s most popular dog meat restaurants, has closed its doors for good, according to the Guangzhou Daily.
The restaurant was formerly located on Huifu Xi Lu and began serving dog meat in 1963. According to The Sunshine Restaurant’s founder, in the 1960s city officials began pushing people to open restaurants catering to local tastes – such as cat and dog dishes.
The reason for the restaurants closure, as well as the shuttering of numerous others, is a decline in demand due to changing attitudes toward man’s best friend.
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“More and more people have realized the importance of protecting animals and refuse to eat dog meat,” said one Guangzhou citizen to the Guangzhou Daily.
Tightened government restrictions on dog meat eateries have also played a roll, with food quality watchdogs warning Guangzhouers not to eat dog meat for safety reasons.
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The Sunshine Restaurant had a bit of a following (so to speak) and was popular with both locals and visitors to the city (generally visitors from South Korea and Japan). The establishment was also honored with an award from the city government in 2000 for its ‘famous Chinese dish.’
The eateries former location has been taken over by a shop (hopefully a pet store, because the irony would be too good).
[Image via SCMP]
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