You left out a word. The point is that we are not JUST animals. There is more to us then that. We are mammals and we feel a kinship with all the other mammals as they feel a kinship with us. This is why dolphins and whales like to inter react with humans because we are all mammals and that means we have a similar biochemistry in our brains. Look at prairie voles that mate for life. They have oxytocin, vasopressin and other hormones in their brain that is very similar to us.
One of the evolutionary theorys is that man developed a high power brain because he has so little going for him in other areas. He has no natural defense. No teeth, no horns, no claws that other animals have to defend themselves. Even the little bee has a stinger. So man has had to develop a higher level of thinking in order to survive in this world. At least that is the theory.