Fresh Air from WHYY, January 5, 2009 · In her new book, Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals, Temple Grandin examines common notions of animal happiness and concludes that dogs, cats, horses, cows and zoo animals — among other creatures — possess an emotional system akin to that of humans.

One of the nation's top designers of livestock facilities, Grandin also happens to be autistic. Her previous books include Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior and Thinking in Pictures.