The Gili Islands look like a tropical paradise: People flock from around the world to luxuriate on their white sand beaches and in their crystalline waters. What tourists may not know is that they are inadvertently promoting the vicious abuse of horses who are literally getting worked to death on their behalf.

I visited the Gili Islands this month, and witnessed extreme cruelty to the carriage horses working there. 

After approaching these men and confronting them on their beaten down horses, I was ignored, as they laughed, as if the situation of a half dead & tortured horse was a funny one. 

The horses, technically ponies due to their size, are brutally beaten, neglected and whipped as they cart unwieldy loads of tourists and supplies around the islands, advocates say, given only salt water to drink and, at best, a few hours rest at night — sometimes left chained to their harnesses. Their salvation is in the hands of just a few welfare groups, hotel allies and conscientious tourists who are desperately trying to stop a culturally ingrained cycle of abuse.

According to the Gili Carriage Horse Support Network (GCHSN), a checklist of neglect and abuse incidents is long and sorrowful. "I have seen horses with open wounds, horses left out in the sun waiting for passengers, horses severely dehydrated with white foam pouring out of their mouths," GCHSN says.

Some of the horses, they say, are forced to work 18 hours a day. The constant sunshine leads to rampant eye injuries and blindness. The horses are deprived of socialization and any "playtime" with other horses. GCHSN claims the animals don't have paddocks and sleep in filthy stalls. In some cases, the owners don't disconnect the equipment from the horse when the shift is over, so the equines are strapped to carriages all day and all night. The horses' hooves were not being trimmed, leading to immense pain for horses on their feet for hours. The investigators also found horses standing in 10 inches of excrement. In one particularly astonishing finding, JAAN observed that owners were only giving their horses salt water from the wells, which leads to dehydration and illness.

They are, GCHSN says, slaves.

As soon as a pony has been beaten close to death or is so dehydrated from drinking salt water and suffering kidney failure, the horse is immediately sold to a slaughterhouse for horse meat for a high price, and a new horse is given back for a small fee. This is why some tourists will sometimes think some horses look good, they are new & fresh off the boat.

Solar powered vehicles have been on offer to the horse owners, but they refuse, as they make too much money exploiting the horses.

Unfortunately, hotel construction is on the rise, which means the horses are needed for lugging cement, wood and other supplies. Despite the groups' efforts, "the beatings, exhaustion and overworking have become far worse," GCHSN says. Horses are constantly beaten if they cannot pull the large loads." Beauchemin says a hotel owner told her at least one horse is collapsing per week.

"It takes only about an hour and a half to walk the whole of the island, so the horses aren't even needed. If everyone stopped using them then it will force the horse mafia to look into other options."

The treatment of these horses should be an embarrassment to the leaders of these Islands. 

I request the Governor to listen to the calls of JAAN and the Gili carriage horses support network to enable alternatives for the transport on the islands.

Thank you.

Lilli Waters