Backpackers, honeymooners, and other tourists visit Indonesia’s Gili Islands to bathe in the blue seas and relax under palm trees, yet this idyllic resort has a dark, ugly side: more than 500 small, exhausted horses are forced to cart heavy loads of tourists and supplies around the islands every day.Whipped and Beaten

According to local animal advocates, the horses are badly neglected and often mercilessly beaten as they are literally worked to death.

Thirsty and Exhausted

Despite the sweltering heat, they’re rarely given water to drink, relief from their harnesses, or the opportunity to rest – and they’re worked long into the night, until the last tourists have left the bars.

Gili Carriage Horse Support Network (GCHSN), a local group working to end the exploitation, has stated that, in some cases, the equipment isn’t removed when the shift is over, so the horses are strapped to carriages all day and…