After five bovine free years Spitalfields Farm has welcomed cows back to Shoreditch by fostering a seven month old dairy steer calf.

East London Advertiser: Seymour, a cow adopted by Spitalfields City Farm as part of their non-slaughter policy.Seymour, a cow adopted by Spitalfields City Farm as part of their non-slaughter policy. (Image: Archant)

Seymour is currently settling in at the farm in Buxton Street. He comes from a dairy herd of eight cows kept to slaughter-free Ahimsa standards at Commonwork Organic Farm in Kent.

The Ahimsa Dairy Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation set up specifically for the welfare of cows. Once the Ahimsa cows milking days are over they are retired to a sanctuary where they are trained as working oxen.

Farmyard Co-ordinator, Jenny Bettenson, said: “This is an exciting partnership that will give many Londoners the chance to meet an iconic farm species on their door step. In turn we will encourage visitors to think about the many welfare issues surrounding intensive dairy farming.”

Seymour will later return to an Ahimsa sanctuary.