According to the New York Times, dogs are people too. Aka: MRI-scans of brains of dogs not under anesthesia and so forth, the relevant quote being:

But now, by using the M.R.I. to push away the limitations of behaviorism, we can no longer hide from the evidence. Dogs, and probably many other animals (especially our closest primate relatives), seem to have emotions just like us. And this means we must reconsider their treatment as property.

All of which reminds me of one story seed (it never became a real novel, but I made it a role-playing game years back), which was predicated on the notion that animals -- via magic in this case, I believe -- became able to speak, and the extent to which it altered the entire world.

Might have to revisit the concept at some point.