1) Mankind is a unique creation of God, set apart from the rest of His creation. People alone have been given a “spirit”, through which they can know God.
Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children.
1 Corinthians 14:15 (Paul wrote) … I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with my understanding.
2) The entire animal kingdom was created by God.
Genesis 1:20-25 Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good. So God blessed them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.
Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
However, the animal kingdom is limited in scope, and without a “spirit”.
Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. (God breathed alone into mankind His “breath of life.”)
God cares for all animals as part of His creation.
(They have always been dependent on God, and have not harmed their relationship with God, meaning that Jesus didn't need to come to die for their sins.)
Psalms 147:9 He provides the animals with their food, and the young ravens, what they cry for.
Matthew 6:26-30 Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?
Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith?