They aren't. A chimpanzee is highly intelligent, it is remarkable, but it is nowhere near on-par with humans.

Animals should be treated ethically. Not equally. A mosquito is not equal to a dog and a dog is not equal to a human. Examples:

Hunting is fine when done for meat. Many people choose to do this because it helps regulate populations, their food is organic and free range, hormone free, and lived a life without cruelty. As a hunter, I disagree with trophy hunting, because I think it is unethical to take a life for an ego instead of taking it to nurture another.

When it comes to experimentation, there is a lot than can be gained for mankind from a single lad rat. While testing useless things like beauty products should not involve animals, using animals to learn about ourselves has led to enormous positive shifts in quality of life. A diabetic can use insulin because we use cows and pigs. A cancer patient may undergo newer, safer, more effective treatments because we use rats. While some procedures can be arguable about the ethics themselves, most places to their best to prevent undue pain and the benefits tend to greatly outweigh the risks. Sorry, but I value my cousin's survival more than I care about a mouse fetus.

Pets are different in every country. While we form great bonds with hundreds of species, only a few of them bond to us, and it isn't on the same level. A dog is not self-aware. A dog can not comprehend its own existence. It's knows happy, sad, safe, scared, comfort. It doesn't know "My situation could be different if___" They do not have that capacity. We use dogs often. But we try to use them ethically. We use them as seeing-eye dogs, hunting companions, protectors, therapists. This bond goes centuries back, but it is different everywhere. My dog has her own bed, she is fed twice a day with lots of treats in between, I cuddle her and talk to her and ensure her quality of life is on par with my own. But up north, the Inuit use dogs as tools. They are wild animals who are staked out on the ice away from people. They are bred to be wild and dangerous because otherwise they would not survive up there. (My dog sure as hell can't fight off a polar bear.) No one but the musher is allowed to go near the pack because they will kill and eat people who do not dominate them. That is how life is up there. It is nothing like my comfy house and my comfy dog.

We need to accept reality. And reality is, animals are not humans. If you life your life thinking your dog is equal to your child, you're going to make a lot of terrible mistakes.

This does not mean we can't care about the little critters. Last year I found a caterpillar that was almost dead because its head was covered in mites. i took it home, clipped off the mites, fed it various vegetables until it wasn't wilted anymore and when it was crawling about I put it back where i found it. Did this stop me from going moose hunting a month later? No.