Belgrade horses to be drugged for Stones gig
‘A plan to sedate more than 300 horses stabled at Belgrade’s racecourse to keep them calm during a Rolling Stones concert there has enraged Serb animal lovers who are lobbying to have the gig moved to another venue.
The concert is expected to draw more than 100,000 people to the Hippodrome, Belgrade’s largest fenced space. The horses will be only a few metres from the stage.
“Horses differ, the same as people. Some are more nervous, more skittish,” said hostler Jovanka Prelic. “If they get too nervous or start to panic during the concert, they’ll get sedatives.” [..]
The sedative would be diazepam. In Serbia it trades under the name Bensedin, a very popular drug during the 78 days of NATO air strikes in 1999, when much of Belgrade’s adult population was on tranquillisers.’
