Although it is mainly concerned with the suffering of humans during the Yugoslav wars, post-Yugoslav literature displays a wide range of human-animal interactions likewise. Relying on scholarly works in the field of literary animal studies, I aim to explore the representation of literary animals in the following two novels: Saša Stanišić’s How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone (2008) and Lana Bastašić’s Catch the Rabbit (2021). Based on a close reading of two minor scenes, I argue that if there is a critique of speciesism in these novels, it stems not from the peaceful children-animal interactions but, on the contrary, from their violent encounters during peaceful times. My tripartite analysis will focus on gradually revealing this critique by focusing on the initial construction of animals in terms of a “negative difference” (Braidotti, Rosi, The Posthuman. Polity Press, Cambridge, 2013), then by the emphasis on their materiality and agency, and finally on their placement in the same predicament with the humans.