Blood on the race track: an analysis of ethical concerns regarding animal-based gambling

Horse and greyhound racing are leisure activities that have significance that transcends their economic impacts as they feature strongly in Australian national identity. Considerable public distress was unleashed when two horses died following the running of the 2014 Melbourne Cup, and several months later, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Four Corners programme exposed, in February 2015, systemic cruelty in the greyhound industry involving the ‘blooding’ of dogs with live animals. Such events have brought anxieties about the use of animals for entertainment into the public arena and have stimulated considerable debate. This paper presents the findings of a study which involved conducting thematic analysis across the online news media (including the public comments in the online news forums) to examine critically the arguments mobilized in support of and in opposition to horse and greyhound racing/gambling and the identification of the key ethical positions that were present in such discourses.