A Chinese restaurant has been shut down after authorities discovered it was serving street pigeons as roast duck to unsuspecting customers.
The Jin Gu restaurant, located in the Usera district of Madrid, was raided by local police on March 25 following numerous complaints from diners who reported feeling unwell after eating there.
Police made several sickening discoveries during the raid, including bowls of plucked and cooked street pigeons being passed off as roasted duck.
Horrific video footage taken inside the restaurant showed gnarled strips of meat hanging from clothing racks in vile conditions. Officers also found approximately 300kg of rotten food in a back room of the establishment.
The Jin Gu restaurant in southern Madrid
Google Maps
The restaurant was found to have eight faulty, rusted freezers containing unlabelled and undated meat and fish. Cockroaches were discovered in the kitchen, alongside numerous rat traps scattered across the floor.
There were no thermometers to measure the temperature of storage areas, and the cookware was largely rusted and unsanitary.
During their search, police also uncovered a secret storage room hidden behind a shelf in the restaurant's disabled toilet. This room was not listed on the business' licence.
Fire extinguishers were not placed properly, failing to meet the minimum height requirement from the ground. Emergency exits at the restaurant had been blocked by bins, creating additional safety hazards.
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The restaurant was serving street pigeons (file pic)
PA
It is believed that restaurant staff hunted pigeons in the street before "kicking them to death", according to El Mundo.
The birds were then plucked and prepared to be served as roasted duck to customers. "Everything smelled of rotten seafood; it was almost unbearable," one officer who participated in the raid told local media.
Investigators also found the restaurant to be in possession of prohibited and illegal items, including sea cucumbers which are protected by strict marine laws. It is estimated that more than a tonne of products had been stored without any temperature control or health guarantees.
Despite being shut down, a sign in Chinese outside the restaurant indicates it had been closed for a holiday.
Residents who live in the same building as the Chinese restaurant told El Mundo they had reported it to police several times.
"None of us ate there. It smelled bad, and we saw food brought in on a cart and left at the door in broad daylight," one resident said.
The word "dirty" has been scrawled in marker next to the holiday closure sign. Following the raid, the restaurant was ordered to close and its owner is now being investigated for alleged crimes against public health, wildlife and consumer rights.
The Jin Gu restaurant had maintained a 4.2-star rating on Google, with many positive reviews from customers who were unaware of what they were actually consuming.
One review from five years ago noted: "The duck I think is a little dry and lots of bones, not that tasty."
