It's a particular pet peeve of mine whyteknight. I mean Aristotle put a lot of work into classifying all living creatures, and I think we should use his terminology. There is nothing insulting about being referred to as an animal, it's a shame that it's become an insulting word in some languages/cultures.

"We submit to the majority because we have to. But we are not compelled to call our attitude of subjection a posture of respect." Ambrose Bierce