Introduction: Every year in the towns and cities across Wales, humans and rescue ex racing greyhounds come together onto the streets. These fundraising and awareness-raising events offer unique opportunities to unravel the reciprocal strands of greyhound and human experience. An immersive ethnographical and autoethnographical account of four of these events was conducted in 2016, drawing on anthropological literature to determine how these encounters might be constituted for multispecies participants.
Methodology: A multi-method ethnography, this research included participant observation of attendant humans and greyhounds, and in depth semi structured interviews with four female human individuals.
This research utilises my status as both ‘critical insider’ (Hodkinson 2002, p6) and conductor of ‘anthropology at home’ (Cassidy 2002, p20). My own autoethnographic intersubjective experiences of relating with ex racing greyhounds are key points of reflection and reflexivity. Drawing on Milton’s (2005) perception-focused intersubjective relating (p265) and Bekoff’s (2004) determination of ‘dogomorphism’ (p495), I sought to recognise the minded experiences of greyhound participants, in order to give these non-human perspectives attention and voice.
Main Results: Social exchanges were categorised as either moral, economic or emotional and gifts were embodied physical exchanges between participants (Chadwick-Jones 1976, p20). Gifts ‘on the street’ may also go beyond the immediate moment of the exchange (Daniels 2009, p386) leaving both giver and receiver with what I have described as an affective experience or auric imprint. This pervasive sense of the encounter prompts a call to action, which may result in further economic, moral or emotional exchanges.
Principal conclusions and implications for the field: Through this research, I have shown that street collections are spaces imbued with meaning for both human and greyhound participants.
Wider recognition of greyhound personhood at street collection events is possible and caregivers can be coached to develop language and skills which recognise greyhound emotions, intentions and individuality. Inspired by the ubiquitous Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the ‘Hierarchy of Dog Needs’ (Michaels 2015) I have suggested a template for this; ‘Being More Greyhound’.
Future research might examine how the use of consent testing and positive dog training methodologies might facilitate better cross species communication.