Tinseltown is ready for its biggest night of the year. The motion picture industry will once again celebrate itself with glitz, gowns, and golden statuettes. But one group of screen stars won’t be receiving any Oscars.

No animal has ever won an Academy Award. The rules don’t expressly prohibit them from consideration, though in the strictest definition “actor” and “actress” imply human nominees. That’s why we’ve never seen an animal recipient bark, whinny, or squawk their acceptance speech at the podium.