Old horse pulling tourist carriage in Yangyang sparks animal abuse debate

Video footage of an aging horse pulling a tourist carriage in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, has reignited an online debate over animal abuse at the popular summer vacation destination.

A user identified as A, who was visiting Yangyang on vacation, posted videos and photos on Threads on Tuesday, writing that they had witnessed "a bizarre sight."

"An old horse with a faded coat was panting as it pulled the carriage," A said, adding that the animal was made to haul tourists in a heavy carriage until late at night.

The footage showed a single horse pulling a carriage carrying a coachman and passengers. After sunset, the horse was also seen standing on the roadside, tethered to a brightly lit carriage, waiting for the next group of tourists.

"A lot of people seem happy to ride it, but I couldn't help wondering whether it's right to use these old horses as a moneymaking tool at a tourist spot," A wrote. "The old horses waiting for customers late at night had their heads drooped, staring at the ground — they looked completely listless."

Many users who saw the post sided with A. "It's so sad to think about a horse that spent its whole life as a racehorse, then gets sold off cheap once it loses its value and spends its old age hauling a carriage in the blazing sun," one commenter wrote. Others called for a boycott of carriage rides, said the summer heat would make the work many times harder for the animals, and called it "clear animal abuse."

One user said they had filed a report through the National Sinmungo public petition system but received a response indicating there were no grounds for enforcement action.

Others urged caution against blanket criticism of carriage operations. "Is there an alternative that would let these horses live if they weren't put to work?" one user asked. Another argued that horses naturally hold their heads low and can pull around a ton, saying it did not appear to be animal abuse. A third commenter said that because horses cost as much to maintain as a supercar, telling owners not to generate income from them was effectively the same as telling them to euthanize the animals.

Meanwhile, an incident in Yangyang earlier this year in which an unattended carriage crashed into and damaged several parked vehicles has prompted calls for tighter oversight of carriage operations — not only on animal welfare grounds but also for public safety.

Moves to ban tourist horse-drawn carriages on animal welfare and safety grounds are also gaining momentum abroad.

In Italy, a bill to ban the "botticelle," a traditional tourist carriage, has been introduced in the lower house of parliament. In New York, authorities are pursuing a plan to phase out horse-drawn carriage services.