Vegetarian Restaurateur Refuses To Fix Cockroach Infestation On Moral Grounds

We've heard of animal-friendly restaurants, but one vegetarian restaurant in Australia took it way too far. After the Kingsland Restaurant, which served vegan and vegetarian food, was fined $16,000 for numerous health violations, including a massive cockroach infestation, the owner refused to clean up his act because morally opposed to "killing little insects," according to the Canberra Times. Last week he pled guilty to the eight offenses in court.

Kingsland Restaurant was granted an operations license in December 2012. Inspectors raided the restaurant in April 2013 after they had been tipped off about the sub-par sanitary conditions. The eight food safety and health violations at the restaurant were so bad that health officials had to shut down the restaurant the next day. Offenses included a cockroach infestation, incorrect food storage, a dirty kitchen and equipment, and obstructed and faulty hand-washing facilities.

The restaurant was re-opened six days later after the breaches were corrected. However, restaurant owner Khanh Hoang said he was unable to carry out the necessary pest control because it would constitute killing living creatures, but claims that he has not since had any breaches of health violations. He was given one year to pay the $16,000 in fines.

A quick look at the Yelp and Trip Advisor pages show mostly positive reviews of the vegetarian restaurant, so it's possible that the restaurant's health offenses slipped under the radar.