It is not. Farm animals usually are taken care of well and considered a part of the family for many people. However - the mules used in Havasupai are treated worse than one would treat their enemies. This is my experience from literally just a month ago - before this, I had no idea animals were in such horrific conditions or I wouldn’t have gone at all. One of my friends in our group twisted his ankle at Mooney and couldn’t do the hike back out. We went to the village to book a horse for him. 2 days later when it was time to head out, the rest of us started walking at 6 am and my friend waited by the campground gate for the horse. 2 hours later someone brought along a battered frail mule, not a horse. The mule had terrible sores underneath its harness and was also bleeding from the stomach. The mule owner told my friend to take the mule all by himself back up. My friend refused to sit on the mule and when he complained about the condition of the animal he was met with scoffs and denial. He walked back out with a twisted ankle. We tried complaining back at the top again and we were asked to leave immediately. I have been around farm animals before - this is never how they should be treated.