God dwells in all creation. Animals are manifestations of the same Divine spirit as human beings. We should therefore honour the divine presence in animals, which is not to worship their outer form. No one, even the so-called primitive savage, considers that the animal state is the highest condition for the soul. No one thinks that God is no more than an animal. Those who honour do so from seeing the Divine Being expressing through them, not through look up to the animal state.

Hinduism respects the Divine presence in animals. It recognises that animals project certain cosmic energies through the Divine Self present within them. Animal images appear in Hinduism for their archetypal and poetic value, not as a mere worship of lower forms of life. Respect for the God in animals, which includes picturing the God in animals, is part of any universal teaching. It is not a sign of lack of spirituality but of a greater sensitivity to the sacred nature of all life. If we refuse to recognise God in animals, it only shows that we have not yet come into contact with the real Divinity, that our God is a human prejudice, not a universal Truth. It indicates that we will all abuse and exploit animals for our own personal pleasure, which is exactly the case in the world today.

Animals also have a soul, a mind and a personality. Unless we can see the Conscious Being in all creation, we do not really see. We do not really know ourselves, nor will we function as a humane and compassionate presence in the universe.

Quoted from "Hinduism: The Eternal Tradition (Sanatana Dharma)" by David Frawley