Mistreated performers

The article examines the utilisation and exploitation of animals as symbols and objects, essentially as tourist props and attractions in cultural performances for tourists in Croatia. The performances include the Sinjska Alka (a historic knightly tournament held annually in Sinj, Croatia), the Bikijada (a local bullfighting event in Dalmatian Zagora), and donkey races on the Adriatic coast and islands. These various uses of animals within the realm of tourism are analysed in the context of the clash between tradition and zooethics, acknowledging that these forms of animal exploitation stem from the folklore tradition of human dominion over animals (nonhumans).