She died just minutes before the start of the Sartiglia in Oristano, as the city prepared for the great celebration. Hurrimera, an English thoroughbred participating in the parade, suddenly collapsed on the sand. Rescue efforts were unsuccessful: there was nothing that could be done for the animal.

"Jousting and jousting: in these historic and traditional events ," the association explains, " horses are exploited and pushed to and beyond their physical and psychological limits through coercion. Accidents are downplayed or hushed up, with injured animals removed from the track away from prying eyes and very often put down. Highly sensitive animals , forced into a crowd, amidst screams, noises, explosions, and confusion, unable to shelter or hide, can sometimes be overcome by fear, like Hurrimera."

Among the hypotheses, in fact, is that the animal may have become "agitated after some firecrackers exploded." Hence the association's appeal: "Enough with these anachronistic demonstrations based on human domination over another species."

(Unioneonline/vf)

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