Hong Kong seafood restaurant accused of fish abuse
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 25 March, 2015, 1:11am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 25 March, 2015, 1:11am
Elizabeth Cheung [email protected]
The fish had not been fed. (File picture). Photo: Simon Parry
A restaurant that has not opened for business in a week is being accused of abusing the live fish it kept on hand after nobody showed up to feed them.
One of the fish died and seven were found weakened, according to police.
Police and officers of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals visited the Royal Dragon Seafood Cuisine restaurant on Connaught Road West in Sheung Wan, after a passer-by called police to report the alleged abuse yesterday morning.
"The air pump was on, but there was no food in the fish tank," a source from the SPCA said.
The eight fish were said to be large, but the specific species has not been confirmed.
The seven surviving fish were transferred to Ocean Park in the late afternoon for further checks, as the SPCA does not have equipment to care for fish.
Ng Pak-yan, who is widely known as "the king of giant groupers", opened the restaurant with a friend he identified only as Mr Cheng, in late 2011. He said he was not clear about the details of the closure as he had sold his share in September 2013.
Cheng remains the owner, Ng said.
Ng said the restaurant might have closed because the cooks were on strike after they were refused a pay rise over the Lunar New Year holiday last month.
Ng owns another seafood restaurant in Prince Edward that is also called Royal Dragon Seafood Cuisine.
The police are searching for the owner of the restaurant, whom they have not identified publicly.
A criminal investigation team from Central is handling the case.
