Beasts of Burden/Headscratchers

Um, is this series using the Animal Talk trope or can all animals speak "human" but chose not to, or can any magical entity understand Animal Talk? I assumed that it was using Animal Talk, but the metalhead Lich in issue 4 identifies the wise dogs as "talking animals" he's heard about, which indicates that it's not his or his master's magic that's making him understand the dogs and cats. Any ideas?
 * Considering all the Functional Magic floating around, I assumed A Wizard Did It, but considering the animals all communicate with each other without switching languages or any sign of Translation Convention, the answer may be up for grabs...
 * On second thought, when you consider that the werewolf boy could understand them (and other nature-related things) because of being a werewolf, and it stopped immediately when the demon left his body, perhaps it's as you say and any "magical entity" gets it as part of the package. Considering that lich wasn't the sharpest guy to begin with I don't think his lack of understanding is too great a clue.