You have correctly identified the contradiction. We love animals but our instincts are even stronger. The only rational conclusion is that we are not rational c

You have correctly identified the contradiction. We love animals but our instincts are even stronger. The only rational conclusion is that we are not rational creatures - we are creatures of instinctive survival/domination. Therein lies the dissonance, because we refuse the rational conclusion which would be explicitly to value human lives less than those of animals.