ABSTRACT
The condition of abandonment is one that humans share with other animals. While human condolence cards usually have minimalist prints of flower arrangements, birds and religious symbols, pet condolence cards typically have a vivid imagery and are often colourful. Companion animals are indeed 'outlaws' or 'werewolves', but as such they are both included and excluded from the human sphere. The anthropological machine and the dynamics between zoe and bios produce a state of conditional humanity: humans adhere to what is normatively human in fear of being reduced to bare life as soon as political interests demand it. A human condolence card would not show humans on their deathbed with angel wings, which suggests that the cat's body is more readily available as a visual resource for depicting human sentiments. The emplacement of nonhuman animals in nature seemingly outside of humans' control allows them to represent unbridled liveliness, in contrast to the circumscribed existence of domestic animals.
