Havasu Canyon, a popular tourist location at the edge of the Grand Canyon, has been abusing horses, burros, and donkeys for years.
However, this suffering has mostly been hidden or ignored by staff and visitors alike. It is a beautiful location, but nearly everyone who goes into the canyon is carried on the backs of these equines. They carry people, camping equipment, ice chests, and more down a rocky 10-mile trail that zigzags down the side of the canyon about 2,000 feet.
These animals are severely malnourished and made to haul heavy loads up and down the canyon. Their skin is often rubbed raw by the loads they carry, and tourists report animals being left by the side of the road to die. A Las Vegas CBS syndicate, Las Vegas Now, wrote a story about this horrible practice and Susan Ash, a woman who started SAVE to help stop the abuse at Havasu Canyon.