Maybe it's not really about being 'alive' in a human or animal sense, but more just about being able to think for yourself and communicate..? I haven't really seen any animals being pulled into this place, after all.

[ Not in the way they have been, at least. She's not counting all the animals that suddenly arrived all together right before things got really, really weird with the natives trying to sacrifice said animals.. ]

I mean, there aren't just humans here, so what draws you here doesn't seem to mind what you are.