TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Animal rights activists allege nine horses at the municipal-run Houli Horse Ranch in Taichung have died in the past three years due to mistreatment, with the remaining herd suffering from malnourishment.
Taichung City Tourism Bureau said the high mortality rate was due to the advanced age of the herd, with the majority of deaths due to natural causes. Tourism officials noted the ranch complied with all regulations, including regular cleaning and feeding, with the private contractor not incurring any regulatory infractions, per PTS.
"Horses are considered senior at the age of 16. Currently, the average lifespan of horses at Houli Horse Ranch is about 19.1 years. Due to an inability to absorb nutrition, horses can appear thinner," said Taichung City Tourism Bureau Section Chief Chang Jun-sheng (張俊生).
Many of the horses at the ranch were deemed "senior," with seven of the horses dying naturally of old age and another two dying of illness, not due to a lack of care. Still, the high mortality rate attracted the attention of city councilors.
Houli Horse Ranch under fire from animal rights activists due to recent deaths. (Taichung Tourism Bureau photo)
"Ranch management was outsourced to a private sector enterprise, resulting in the deaths of nine of the 26 horses owned by the city, and the remaining ones are malnourished," said Taichung City Councilor Yang Da-hung (楊大鋐).
Yang questioned why the Taichung Tourism Bureau paid NT$4.4 million (US$137 million) a year in management fees to a private contractor when the ranch only earned NT$2.5 million in revenue. The Houli Horse Ranch has been operating at a loss since being outsourced to a private contractor in 2020.
The private company responsible for the day-to-day activities of the ranch said horses are let out at a fixed time every day and eat four meals a day, including alfalfa cubes and nutritional supplements.
In February, the horse ranch passed a government evaluation with no signs of inappropriate care. However, animal rights groups visited the horse ranch in April, finding many problems that still required improvement.
"It is not enough to let the horses exercise once a week. This is very far from what is necessary. They need to exercise horses at least once a day. In addition, the grazing area is bare," said Animal Skies researcher, Lin Ting-yi (林婷憶)
Animal protection groups allege the private contractor has limited manpower and insufficient expertise to run a horse ranch as strengthened supervision including expert review is needed to better protect animal rights.
