The British group was scheduled to perform on July 14 at the Belgrade Hippodrome, before learning that the 300 horses who live at the race track would have to be sedated in order to stay calm during the show.
After hearing the concerns of the ORCA animal protection society, the Stones decided to change the venue for their concert.
A letter was sent to ORCA to confirm the change, that read, "The Rolling Stones’ band members are great animal lovers. We didn’t manage to convince The Stones’ management that the concert would not harm the horses."
The Stones have never played in Serbia. In 2003, concerts were cancelled after the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. In 2006, another concert was cancelled in Serbia after guitarist Keith Richards was injured while on vacation.