Scenes of starvation and death greeted tourists who signed up for horse riding on the beach while enjoying their holiday in Sabah, Malaysia.

The tourists had visited the Melinsung ranch located 20 mins South of Kota Kinabalu to sign up for the activity. What they found left them sickened. Starving and weak horses, some unable to stand, were kept in dirty paddocks and stables in and around the ranch. The horses had skin diseases, open wounds and infected sores, and there were reports of many dead and dying horses.

The tourists reported the distressing scenes to the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) in June 2007. Photos of the sick animals, posted on a forum in New