murdering animals shouldn't carry the same penalties as murdering humans, that's handicapped. do we take bob the urban man on a road-trip to court when he runs over a deer and doesn't have the willpower to break its neck to end its suffering? do we lock up people who hunt with bows and traps? animals don't have the mental capacity of humans. certain groups, e.g. apes, elephants and toothed whales should get extra penalties because they've demonstrated an impressive cognitive capacity, but there is no scientific argument for saying that killing a cat should be treated as murder.
also "any animal"
Man Imprisoned for 5 Years after Killing Worm In Backyard
You bring up a good argument, good enough to the point where I pretty much agree with what you're saying. There is a difference between animals and their capacities to think. The only thing I see wrong is that, sure, animals may not think the same as its but they most likely perceive pain in the same way. Then again, if the animal is dead the animal can't feel, and has no brain activity. This goes into territory about what happens after death, a topic which I don't really have an opinion on one way or the other.
