Want Some Dog Meat for Lunch Today? You're Out of Luck

Fancy some dog for lunch at the office today? You're out of luck, as red hot food delivery platform Ele.me has banned the sale of dog meat through their popular app.

According to Caixin, Ele.me is not making the decision on moral or sentimental grounds ("you can't eat Man's Best Friend!") but rather due to health safety issues. "The reality is there are no quarantine and slaughter standards for dogs in the country, and the majority of dog meat on the market is untraceable," Caixin reported, citing Ele.me's Sina Weibo account. “Dog meat is very likely to carry parasites and the rabies virus, posing a serious food safety risk."

The site said that 300 restaurants nationwide had been selling dog meat via the platform.

While they were at it, Ele.me also apparently removed cat meat and snake meat from the platform, and pledged to no longer do business with restaurants serving wild or protected animal products such as shark's fin and bear paw, Caixin reported.

While ordering pages for the dog meat spots have been removed, as of this morning the Ele.me search engine still showed several results for dog meat (狗肉):

Truth be told, dog meat is a fairly rare item to find on local menus in places like Beijing these days. Whereas there was once a time when plenty of dog meat hot pot might be found streetside in various dirty corners of the city, its increasingly unlikely to see it being sold (or even advertised) in the developed parts of Beijing.

Dog meat has been consumed for centuries in China and is considered a "warming" food, great for consumption in winter.

Adventurous foodies hankering to be an urban Bear Grylls by giving dog meat a try can easily search up one of the few remaining dog meat restaurants in downtown Beijing: a quick Baidu search indicates the Fuxin Nourishing Soup Restaurant 福鑫补身汤 (Bldg 15, Unit 1556, phone listed as 130 5181 1158) near the Fairmont Hotel on the west side of Jianwai Soho serves up bowls of puppy soup.

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