Edmonton health and animal welfare officials are investigating a restaurant that had four skinned canine carcasses in its walk-in freezer.
"I was shocked. You just don't expect to see something like that," said Richard Reive, a city health inspector.
The carcasses -- which are either dogs or coyotes -- were discovered at the Panda Garden restaurant by security guards on Tuesday.
Mr. Reive said it is unclear whether the owners of the Chinese restaurant, which opened 19 months ago, intended to use the meat from the carcasses for human consumption.
"I have no proof they were going to be used in dishes, but that's something we're not ruling out and that's why it's part of our investigation," he said.
However, Humane Society special constable Chad Goeree said it seems likely the carcasses were intended for the table. Two were in garbage bags and two were lying on the floor of the freezer, which also contained inspected meat.
"I don't know why you would keep a skinned carcass of a canine in your restaurant unless you had intentions to do something with it."
A manager of another Edmonton Chinese restaurant said the incident will likely make diners question the origins of meat in the city's Asian eateries. "It probably will affect the image of Chinese. That's what I think right now because this is not very nice to have some dogs or coyotes in the freezer," he said, declining to give his name.
Mr. Goeree said he often gets calls to inspect restaurants after questions about suspicious meat.
"In the past, I've had people call and say, 'Hey, this restaurant's not using proper meat.' And nothing's ever supported. There's no evidence. It's always false alarms."
The Panda Garden restaurant has been closed for several days -- even before the frozen-solid carcasses were discovered Tuesday. Its phone went unanswered yesterday.
Mr. Goeree said he believes the restaurant and the downtown strip mall in which it is located were in a dispute over rent payments. The security guards, he said, may have been called in when the restaurant owner tried to make a "midnight run" with equipment this week.
Mr. Reive said the restaurant, which is operated by a numbered company, has had five routine inspections, which resulted in 11 follow-up visits for "sanitation issues, food-handling issues". However, he said its operator "has always been compliant and co-operative" with health inspectors and that there is no indication the restaurant ever served improper meat.
Mr. Reive said he couldn't say where the carcasses came from or who skinned them. However, he said his investigation does not include other restaurants or businesses. "This seems to be an isolated incident."
One carcass is undergoing a post-mortem examination in a provincial government lab to determine whether the animals are domestic dogs or coyotes. If they are dogs, the Humane Society will handle the animal-welfare investigation, and if they are coyotes, provincial officials will be conduct it.
Mr. Goeree said he believes they are coyotes because the four carcasses are the same size -- similar to that of a medium-sized dog -- and each has a few inches of tan fur on their paws.
Jill Mahoney