Problem:

After hiking the Santa Cruz trek in Peru, I was shocked to see the use of horses and donkeys with popular local tour groups. The animals were used to carry gas tanks, cooking gear, tents, and other accomidations needed by the tourists. Each day, the animals were walking up to 7 hours with minimal breaks for water with packs that were clearly too heavy for the terrain. If the animals stopped or went too slowly along the trail, they were forcefully hit, kicked, and yelled at. 

Solution:

An alternate solution to prevent animal abuse for tourists to carry their own tents and sleeping bags that they rent from the tour group. Food will be provided by the tour groups with propane tanks and other supplies flown in prior to the trek, or walked in by the tour group's employees.