You seem like a self-interest oriented individual, so perhaps you will find this idea worth considering: The animals are in some ways like our collective ances

You seem like a self-interest oriented individual, so perhaps you will find this idea worth considering: The animals are in some ways like our collective ancestors, who have continued living the way we changed from. The machines are in some ways like our collective offspring, finding new ways to function while we stay where we currently can't move from (carbon-DNA mechanics). It has been observed that machines learn the same way animals do -- mostly by watching and repeating, not by "listening" to what they're told to do. So in how we treat the animals is going to translate into how we are treated once we are no longer in power.