This book is the first comprehensive examination of the complex intersection between sports, animal welfare, and ethical considerations. The chapters in this thought-provoking collection challenge conventional wisdom about animal participation in sporting activities.

Distinguished scholars tackle pressing questions about animal agency, consent, and exploitation across a spectrum of activities—from traditional equestrian sports to controversial blood sports. Through diverse philosophical frameworks including consequentialism, virtue ethics, and the capabilities approach, the volume scrutinizes our moral obligations to non-human athletes.

This essential work invites readers to critically examine the ethical foundations of human-animal sporting relationships, offering fresh perspectives on animal dignity, autonomy, and welfare in competitive environments. For researchers, practitioners, and anyone interested in animal ethics or sports philosophy, Sport and Species provides an invaluable framework for understanding and reimagining the role of animals in sporting traditions.

The chapters in this volume were originally published as a special issue of Sport, Ethics and Philosophy.

S.P. Morris is a Clinical Professor of Sport Leadership & Management at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA. His teaching and scholarship focuses on ethics, generally, and ethics in sports in particular. His scholarship focuses mostly on the use and abuse of animals in and for sport but he has written on broader philosophical topics as well.

Gabriela Tymowski-Gionet is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of New Brunswick in Canada. Her teaching and research focus on applied ethics within the realm of health and sport. Of late, she has been working on the morally problematic activity of “sport” hunting and animals’ inherent vulnerability.