"Animal" is often used as a putdown to describe uncouth behavior, which is why we may not enjoy being called that.
Furthermore, we have a BIG jump in mental capability over nearly every other present-day species -- only great apes and maybe also dolphins come anywhere close. And great apes are the closest species to our species!
If an animal must be nonsentient, we are not animals.
But if that requirement is relaxed, then we are -- which is very consistent with all our physical features and at least some of our mental features.