LOS ANGELES — Southern Californian restaurateur Rafi Khan had a clear vision for a new food outpost on a 20-acre ranch he leased in Riverside County earlier this year.

Bright vintage rugs laid over dusty ground. Smoky, charcoal-grilled meats and fragrant wok-cooked tomato curries sizzling over an open flame. Goats and sheep grazing across the way.

The concept for the pop-up selling Karachi highway-style barbecue as well as tacos made with halal meat garnered buzz on social media, and some 250 people gathered beneath string lights — traveling from as far as San Diego and San José — to visit Shahnawaz Ranch in Perris in the Inland Empire for its opening night this summer.

"People were loving it," Khan said.

But Khan's plans began to fall apart in late June when national animal advocacy organization Animal Outlook lodged allegations with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that livestock had been inhumanely slaughtered during a May event at Shahnawaz Ranch for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, and that the operation had sold the meat without required federal inspection.

And on July 18, during the pop-up's opening weekend, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department visited the site and issued a cease-and-desist order noting that the operation did not have the proper permits to operate a food business and entertainment venue, after neighbors made complaints of a large event the previous night and of animals being slaughtered.

The USDA said in an emailed statement that it became aware of the allegations regarding Shahnawaz Ranch in mid-July and had opened an investigation. The agency said, because of the ongoing investigation, it could not provide further details.

Khan, who also operates a combination dine-in spot and a butchery in Corona, as well as a long-standing beloved restaurant serving tandoori kebabs and other dishes on Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia, said his efforts to create a new cultural community space has backfired and unleashed hateful phone calls to him and his business.

He said he has not yet been contacted by the USDA and has closed operations for now, as he works to secure the appropriate permits.

"We have to find a way to figure this thing out," Khan said.

Islamic tradition, similar to Kosher rules, requires meat to be prepared in a certain way, with a swift cut to the throat to enable an animal's quick, relatively painless death and allowing the blood to drain. During Eid al-Adha, observers honor the sacrifice of the prophet Abraham and prepare halal meat to share with family, friends and those in need.

The June 26 complaint filed by Animal Outlook described slaughters captured on video by Scott David, the organization's director of investigations, when he visited the ranch during its Eid al-Adha event.

In an interview with The Times, David said he found the event through routine internet searching — including specialty halal meat operations — that he does to find opportunities for his team to capture conditions in animal agriculture outside of farms or large-scale slaughterhouses. He said animals were pulled by their legs or horns, and that cuts to the throat were not quick or thorough.

Veterinarian James Reynolds said in a written declaration included in Animal Outlook's complaint that he observed in David's videos that some goats and sheep remained alive for two to three minutes after their throats were cut, including one instance in which an animal appeared to begin to be skinned before it had died from the throat cut.

Reynolds also described unsanitary conditions due to the slaughter area being outdoors with dirt and gravel.

Jareb Gleckel, legal director at Animal Outlook, said ritual slaughter is governed by different regulations, but that there is in some ways "less margin for error" than at conventional commercial slaughter facilities. Gleckel said Khan's statements to media have been inconsistent, framing the May event as a one-off event even as the ranch's website advertised "ranch-to-table halal dining from animals raised on our own land."

Khan declined to directly address the allegations but said customers had largely been involved in the slaughter of animals they either brought themselves or purchased from him, with some assistance from employees.

On the Shahnawaz Ranch's website, it appears information about the pop-up restaurant has been removed and replaced with a form to collect customer contact information.

"We're working hard to open our gates," the website reads. "Leave your details and you'll be the first to know the moment we're back."

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