Over 2,000 restaurants hope to become dog-friendly sites through government's scheme

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department says more than 2,000 restaurants have applied for a dog admission permit. The application's deadline is Monday.

The department launched the application in mid-May. The scheme allows restaurants that don't provide hotpot and barbecue with an area bigger than 20 square metres to apply. In the first phase of the scheme, the department will only grant licences to 1,000 restaurants.

Authorities say they will use a ballot system for the licence allocation because the application has exceeded the original quota. The first batch of licences are expected to be granted in mid-June.