Shanghai Starbucks removes indoor pet zone after writer Liu Shenglei was asked to give up his seat to a dog owner on August 26. Store now seats pets outdoors, no air-conditioning. Apology issued, but change was pre-planned.
Tags:Shanghai Starbucks Removes Indoor Pet Zone After Customer Complains of Being Asked to Give Up Seat for Dog
A Shanghai Starbucks has ignited a fierce debate about pets, priorities, and customer rights – after a well-known writer was asked to give up his seat to a customer with a dog.
On August 26, Chinese writer and influencer Liu Shenglei (known as "Six God Lei Lei") posted on social media that he had been asked to vacate his seat at a Starbucks in Shanghai's Xuhui West Bund Dream Center.
Liu had ordered a coffee and was working at a table for about an hour when a male employee told him he was sitting in a “pet zone” and needed to move for a customer who had just arrived with a pet.
“I was sitting in the store – I walked through the door to get there,” Liu later told reporters.
He noted that there were no clear signs identifying the area as a pet-only zone. The glass partition had stickers reading “pet-friendly space” and “pet-friendly rest stop,” but nothing indicating that non-pet owners were not allowed to sit there.
Liu said he eventually gave up his seat but left feeling upset.
“I like cats and dogs – I've owned both,” Liu told reporters. “But marking off a zone like this and making people give up their seats to pets – that's going too far. At the very least, there should be a first-come, first-served rule.”
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The Legal Question
Liu pointed to a more fundamental problem: under Shanghai law, dogs are not allowed in restaurants at all.
Article 23 of the Shanghai Dog Management Regulations explicitly states that dogs are prohibited from entering “catering establishments.”
“There's no logic in making law-abiding customers give way to those who are breaking the rules,” Liu said.
He also accused the store of creating unnecessary conflict for marketing purposes. “It only deepens the divide between pet owners and non-pet owners. We were getting along fine – why stir up trouble?”
The Store’s Response
By August 27, the store had removed the indoor pet zone. Staff confirmed that customers with pets would now be seated outdoors in a non-air-conditioned area. The store also said the change had been planned in advance and was not a direct response to the complaint.
Starbucks China later issued a statement apologizing to the customer and confirming that the store would no longer have a pet area inside.
Source: 都市现场
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