(2011, August 28th)

The Palio with the use of animals – no matter its level – remains a spectacle built and lived at their expenses. During the Palio di Siena on 16th August there have been some serious falls. The supporters of this anachronistic tradition brush them away as unpredictable incidents, while the images show every time that these incidents are more than predictable, since the animals are obliged to gallop over unsuitable courses, which causes an excessive strain on their legs, and in an environment that fills them with fear and stress.

And, as soon as the race ended, the organizers’ greatest worry was to make the injured horses and the images of the falls disappear: Siena TV, in example, had posted the images taken from the RAI TV, but with a skilled use of the zoom, they made “disappear” the horses lying on the ground (compare the two images). Even the name of the file,“Palio16ago2011corretto (palio16aug2011corrected)” , raises a few doubts. So much for transparency! Is this journalism?

We have previously experienced the impossibility to civilly talk with local administrators and organizers, thus we believe it’s time to go beyond the polemics and start a serious activity to make our politician understand the real essence of the problem and to clear their evident misunderstanding that there must be a compromise between popular traditions and animal welfare. As far as we know, the formers’ protection is not among the Health Ministry’s tasks. This Ministry should consider this topic only by a scientific point of view. The beautiful choreographies, the poetic landscapes of some of our Medieval towns, the excitement of competition or the rivalry between parties are certainly part of our traditions, but they have nothing to do with the equine species’ ethologic characteristics.

We will work to make sure the laws keep this in account and adapt to it; we hope for future, beautiful Palii where no one will die or be hurt for entertainment.

Palio di Siena, 16th August 2011:
- watch the images of the terrible collective fall and of the horse lying on the ground
- watch the comparison between RAI’s movie and Siena TV’s movie