Colombia’s Caribbean coast used to be filled with slaves, but today in Cartagena de Indias, it’s a plethora of tourists who come to visit this World Heritage Site in horse-drawn cabs.
It’s all so pretty — except for the part where the horses are overworked, and sometimes worked to death. Apparently it’s not uncommon for passers-by to witness them collapsing from exhaustion or dehydration, as happened recently in near Bocagrande beach. Minutes after collapsing, the horse died, reported El Espectador.
The daily observed that activists have repeatedly denounced horses’ working conditions in Cartagena, and complained that those taken out of circulation for exhaustion were sent back to work too soon before fully recovering.
Cabbies have reportedly rejected proposals to place microchips or sensors on their horses to monitor their physical state.
Photo: via caracol.com.co
