ABSTRACT
In 2007, CBS news featured a short segment on “dogs who talk,” prompted by Barbara Walters’ report that her dog had said “I love you.” It is still available on their web site. The dogs in the segment, when cued by their human companions, all produce sounds-howls, yowls, yips, and even something close the voice of the Wookie in Star Wars-that ever-so-slightly resemble the English words “I love you.” Viewing this grotesque performance is, needless to say, painful for anyone critical of anthropomorphism or concerned about respecting canine diff erence. It crystallizes some of the worst tendencies within our culture when it comes to the desire to hear what other animals might have to tell us: we only recognize communication when it comes in the form of human speech, and the only message we want to hear is that we are inherently lovable. While ostensibly establishing a connection between humans and dogs (both through their love for us and their ability to “talk” like us), this segment powerfully confi rms human superiority over other animals (look how imperfectly they do what we do!), measuring their abilities by the yardstick of our own. Thus, they are held at a distance from us through their incapacities, while the many things they can do that we cannot-such as smell cancer-are erased. We are left with the image of slavishly devoted, imperfect versions of ourselves rather than capable beings with their own lives, perspectives, and abilities.
