Originally cited by the Pennsylvania Game Commission for 17 wildlife violations, the former owners of the New China House Restaurant in Lititz, PA were charged again earlier this month.
Surrounding the former owners, Shi Lu Eng, and her husband, Chun Dwong Eng, the allegations dating as far back as 2012 are slightly disturbing to anyone who enjoys dining out. What began as canvassing dumpsters outside deer processing facilities in New Holland and Elizabethtown, led to charges including illegal transport of deer to sell in New York City to possessing deer parts with the intent to sell at their restaurant.
In December of 2015, the Pennsylvania Game Commission uncovered upwards of 400 pounds of deer parts that included brains, heads and skinned tails inside the eatery. While the couple denied the parts were used for any food preparation to be sold, a former employee told LNP that Eng told her it was “to put the bone in the soup to make it taste better. I believe it was wonton soup.”
In addition to the parts found inside the restaurant, Shi Lu Eng was also caught selling deer parts out of the back of a van in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York City just before Christmas of 2015. New York Department of Environmental Conservation officers stated they caught her in possession of 30 deer rib cages and 21 pieces of spine from deer carcasses.
For that incident, she pled guilty and was fined $2,250 for unlawfully possessing protected wildlife, importing deer spinal cord parts from outside New York and failing to comply with mandatory tagging requirements.
While the original charges were subsequently dropped last fall after new information was presented but didn’t pan out according to reports, officials have since refiled the same charges. Each charge comes with the potential of a $1,000-$1,500 fine and up to 90 days in jail.
The restaurant is now under new management and is operating under a different name.
“I hope customers will see new management, new people and new food,” the new owners said.
