ABSTRACT
Animals used in spectator sports, such as racehorses and greyhounds, are often described as ‘athletes’. Greyhounds are ‘superlative canine athletes’, according to the Society of Greyhound Veterinarians. 1 But in the way that society utilizes and views them, racing greyhounds and racehorses are more like gladiators. Like gladiators, their participation is only partly voluntary and they are disposable when their success or utility ends. Like gladiators, they sometimes die in the cause of the sport. Animal gladiators occupy an ambiguous region in human society where admiration, enthusiasm, instrumentalism and sometimes cruelty are combined. They are not expected to interact with humans in the home and are not bred for suitability as companion animals. Yet they (or at least those that perform successfully) are much admired as individuals and their success is identified with ours. Some are made into legends. At the least, the successful ones are respected as valuable commodities.
