Lizard groundhog accompany meals at the table while eating and playing to save health hazards
Cute pet restaurants should go through quarantine when selling cute
Intern reporter Yang Tianyue and intern Zhao Tianyue
In addition to cat and dog restaurants, pet restaurants that use rabbits, raccoons, lizards, and groundhogs as gimmicks to attract diners have also appeared in the capital, evoking the curiosity of many consumers.
Questions also follow: Are the increasingly popular Internet celebrity pet restaurants reasonable and compliant?
Are pets in the store suitable for intimate contact?
How to ensure food safety and hygiene?
Industry insiders said that although this kind of novel consumption model has achieved good market results, it still needs relevant departments to strengthen supervision.
Check in to watch animals at the Internet celebrity restaurant
In the 6:15 Climbing Pet Craft Bar in China Central Place, cute pets such as squid, chinchilla, parrot, rabbit, mink, piglet, and cole duck attract the attention of shoppers.
"The children had a great time. In addition to the teacher's knowledge of small animals, children can also interact with small animals, which is very interesting." Ms. Yu, a citizen dining in the store, said happily.
On platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Dianping, this crawl pet craft bar has become an Internet celebrity restaurant. More than 30 kinds of cute pets and reptiles in the store attract many parents to bring their children to "check in."
The reporter noticed that this restaurant is mainly divided into two areas. The inner area where the bar is located is equipped with a dining area and a glass rearing cabinet. Except for a few pet mink and chinchillas that are in estrus, they are closed inside. Almost all of them are poisonous reptiles and cannot directly contact customers.
The outer area in the shopping mall is a lot more lively. The dining area and the interactive area are not separated, and consumers can freely get in close contact with animals.
The Cole Duck swims in a pool one meter away from the dining table. Two lizards lie on a cabinet without any shelter. The little pig is tied to the ground. The children who come to the store to play have a mouse in their hands, and the children hold them. The squid was brought to the table to accompany himself to eat.
In a Japanese-style yakiniku izakaya called "Aka Valley" located near Jiulong Mountain, the little raccoon is its characteristic "signature".
The raccoons in the store are kept in the glass window at the entrance of the restaurant. Consumers can watch outside the window and enter
The restaurant can also feed and interact on the table when dining.
Pet odor affects dining
Due to the main pet consumption, it is not uncommon for the dining area and the interactive area to be blurred, and pets can be served at the table at will. How to ensure food safety and hygiene?
At a quarter past six, the staff introduced that reptiles such as lizards and snakes are all artificially bred and are completely isolated from the wild environment, so they can be in direct contact with people and will not spread the virus.
"The animals in the store that are allowed to interact with customers are not harmful. Animals that bite like groundhogs are only for viewing. Pets such as rabbits and cats are also vaccinated on time." He said, except for the store. Cleaning and maintenance are done during business hours, and overall disinfection will be carried out before closing the shop every day.
But he did not show the animal's immunization certificate to reporters.
Some people also expressed concern about the smell of pets.
When the reporter visited, it was found that the dining table where customers had finished their meal in the bar had not been cleaned in time, coupled with the peculiar smell of animals, there were many flies and mosquitoes in the store.
There are dedicated staff in the store holding electric mosquito swatters to drive away flying insects, and staff frequently clean the excrement of animals on the ground.
The “Code of Practice for Food Safety in Catering Services” issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation in 2018 clearly stipulates that the area where restaurants raise and slaughter animals such as livestock and poultry should be outside the catering service establishment and keep a proper distance from the catering service establishment.
As for this cute pet restaurant, the reporter has not inquired about the relevant regulations issued by the relevant departments.
New gameplay needs new supervision
Is the increasingly popular Internet celebrity pet restaurant reasonable and compliant?
So far, there are still doubts.
Lai Yang, vice president of the Beijing Business Economics Association, believes that consumers' need to interact with animals is the reason for the emergence of pet restaurants.
Although many consumers want to be close to animals, if the restaurant’s dishes are inferior, it is difficult to retain “repeat customers” and can only attract first-time consumers.
According to Zhu Danpeng, an analyst in the Chinese food industry, whether the animals in pet restaurants come from formal channels, how the animals are quarantined, and whether there are reasonable control measures, many issues cannot be ignored.
"For example, restaurant protection and control cannot reach the professional level of zoos or research institutions, which may become breeding grounds for bacteria and cause secondary contamination of food. Pet restaurants need to comply with laws and regulations, and corresponding measures and hardware are required to prevent quarantine. It’s not a matter of fact."