Vegetarian cafe owner slammed for ‘appalling animal cruelty' after cows freeze to death

The owner of a vegetarian restaurant was slammed for "appalling animal cruelty" after he left three cows to freeze to death on his farm.

Khalid Undre, who owns Down To Earth café and health shop in Kensington High Street, promotes his business as "environmentally sound, sustainable and animal friendly", informing customers that "by-products from our kitchen go to feed the cows in our Harrow farm".

But RSPCA and environmental health inspectors raided the farm last January following a tip-off from a concerned local, reported the Evening Standard.

They found one cow dead in the snow, having given birth unaided. Another cow and its calf later died. The rest of the herd were underweight and dehydrated.

Harrow council leader Susan Hall said: "This was an appalling offence of animal cruelty, made all the more grotesque by the cynical way in which this man paraded himself as a champion of ethical food standards."

Last month's trial heard Undre did not feed the cows a wholesome diet or feed them at regular intervals. It also heard that he failed to provide access to drinking water at the Harrow Weald farm. Undre was also found guilty of failing to dispose of carcasses properly.

Undre was found guilty of animal welfare offences by Willesden magistrates and ordered carry out 120 hours of community work and pay £2,500 legal costs.

RSPCA officers nursed the orphaned calf was back to health. It is now thriving at a petting farm in Sussex. The herd was sold to another farmer, but four calves born at the site but not tagged were slaughtered.