Who are the true creatures of God’s creation?

I came across this saying in an animal hospital and I was most tickled by it:

Animals are the true creatures of God’s creation. Humans are merely apprentices of the devil.

And this too, by William Ralph Inge:

We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form.

I am now reminded of what a friend told me, that most animal lovers do not like humans.

Really?

I don’t know.

If it’s true, I think it is because animals have this sincerity and openness about them. They never lie. What you see is what you get.

Humans?

I feel sorry for those humans who have no empathy for animals and choose to see animals as lesser beings. Most of all, I pity humans who wield their strength and might over animals who are at their mercy to the point of abusing them, ill-treating them, abandoning them and even killing them (out of fun or convenience).

We do come across (even in this blog) people who would put their pets down because it is not perfect, or it has a medical problem which is not untreatable. I have also come across people who surrender their pets at the shelter just because it has ticks and they do not like to have ticks in their house. Guess they have not heard of FrontLine or tick wash.

I pity such humans because their pet would never do that to them.

Having said that, now, WHO is the superior being?

If a noble person is one who is compassionate and has mercy on all living beings, then, indeed, WHO are the true creatures of God’s creation?