One-hot encoding with array

[SjoerdHerlaar]

I am working with a dataset that includes many categorical variables, and using dummy variables enlarges the number of variables significantly. I was hoping to use vectors for each categorical variable but I am unsure whether SOMPY would allow for such a datatype to work.

If I were to encode animal[cat, dog] as a variable called animal with values [0,1] and [1,0], would SOMPY be able to hand this or should I make variables for each type of animal with dummy variables?

Thank you!