(AP) — A Los Angeles restaurant doesn’t have permission to kill as many as three dogs a day and serve the meat to customers, despite claims in a widely shared false story this week. Health officials say the restaurant doesn’t exist.

A post that has appeared online in various forms since at least 2014 surfaced again recently on the site quotes-news. The Los Angeles County Health Department said it has no record of any restaurant named Puchow de Manila Eatery and Fine Dining. Even if there were such a place, the department said the sale of dog meat for human consumption is illegal in California.

The false story quotes World Animal Protection as being “shocked” about the restaurant but a spokeswoman for that group said it was never asked to comment. A photo linked to the story is from a 2014 New York Times story about a dog meat festival in China.
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This is part of The Associated Press’ ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.