Rome - Animal rights activists yesterday demanded an end to the medieval Palio di Siena horse race around the city's main square after one horse was put down and two others were injured.
"This barbarity must be stopped," the Anti-Vivisection League, one of Italy's leading animal rights organisations, said in a statement.
The Italian League for Animal Rights blasted the race as "dangerous foolishness". The anything-goes contest consists of a bareback dash three times around Siena's sloping, sand-covered main square, the Campo.