Bejing restaurants told to remove dog

BEIJING, July 11 (UPI) -- The Beijing Restaurant Association has notified restaurants under contract for the Summer Olympics that dog meat cannot be served during the games.

The association, which has government backing, has advised other restaurants that many foreigners find eating dog offensive and suggested that they take it off the menu, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Dog has never been a part of Beijing-style cuisine. But the capital is home to a growing number of Korean restaurants, which serve dog, and the food of parts of southern China where eating dog is traditional has become increasingly popular.

A spokesman for Huatian Cold Noodles, a Korean chain with an Olympic contract, said that the restaurants normally serve about 20 different dog dishes.

"It will certainly have an effect on our sales," he said.

A member of the staff at Dog Meat King, a small restaurant specializing in -- you guessed it -- told the British newspaper the restaurant had heard nothing of a dog ban.

"If it applies to us, the effect will be huge," the staffer said. "If we get an order like that, I have no idea what we would do."