We need to stop insulting animals.

"He acted like an animal," the wronged woman laments.

"They're just animals," says the general, dismissing the enemy.

"You're like some kind of animal," the distressed mother says to her son, whose clothes are strewn about his room.

"These are obviously animals," the police spokesperson says in referring to whoever is responsible for a scene of multiple shootings, two or three or more people lying on the sidewalk, bleeding their lives away, probably dead already. "Animals," the chief says. "And we'll find them and bring them to justice."

How many of these references to animals are accurate and fair?

In the first instance, the cheated-on wife, her portrayal of her husband as an animal is, as the British say, more or less spot on. Unless I'm mistaken, the males of almost all species of animals have sex indiscriminately. Shame on them (and us) but they (we) do. In a way, they (we) can't help it. It's programmed in. It's what gives guys of all species a bad name.

In the second instance, the general trying to de-humanize the enemy, that's been going on since there were armies. He's making animals out to be vicious invaders who must be stopped. Who are they? What are they fighting for? They're animals, not humans. But of course they really are humans, not animals. They think and, we assume, thought out why they wanted to risk their lives in this particular cause. For sure there are ant colonies who invade others, but, for the most part, animals stake out their domain and live there peaceably unless invaded. They don't go looking for trouble.

I had a friend in high school who participated in what used to be called a "gangbang" (though I understand that word means something else now, related to gangs), which involved numerous males having sex with a drunk girl in the backseat of someone's car. Why my friend told his mother about this I can't imagine, but what she said was, "That's like a bunch of animals." And I think she slapped him and sent him to his room.

But I don't know of any animal conduct like this: multiple animals lining up to have sex with a single female. Maybe at weird times of the year or whatevever but not as a routine activity. It might make some sense biologically -- lots of males trying to impregnate a single female -- but it makes no sense socially or morally. If the girl did it willingly -- and yes, some do -- she needs lots of help that she probably won't get. Generally speaking, this kind of behavior is not normal and not okay.

In the third case, the teen with a messy room, I have nothing to go on. It seems to me that animals build a nest or a nesting place that is appropriate to their places for mating and raising their young, with nothing wasted, but I'm not sure. I'm beginning to think that there are neat people and messy people, a basic division that, if true, woul explain a lot about the differences between males and females. (This deserves an essay itself, don't you think?)

As for the last case, mulitple killings, I don't know of any animal who kills indiscrimately. They kill to eat, right? Or, in the case of those ants, to gain territory. Most of the time they sleep or, in the case of spiders I've watched, go almost comatose: staying in one position for not just hours but whole days. I think most animals, from insects up, are better at conserving their resources and protecting themselves than we are.

Which only makes sense considering that all they have to worry about is survival and getting enough to eat to ensure that survival. Animals are in the situation you and I were in a few hundred thousand years ago. Your ancestor and mine were making their way through a hostile world, trying to find a good place to spawn you and me.

They were then, as we are now, still plagued by random violence. Sometimes perpetrated by wild animals but, I'd bet, more often by some other family of pre/neo-humans.

I suspect that murder is a foreign concept for animals. Why kill someone without reason? I just don't think they do it. Why would they? (Why do we?)

So why is it that we associate our worst behavior with animals?

I hope it's not because we need to feel superior to someone, but I suspect that it is. That need to feel superior to someone is, of course, built into us and is, alas, the basis of racism. But it's also why we make so many disparaging comments and analogies regarding animals. We humans have a hard lot here on earth -- confusing and challenging and frustrating -- and we need to know that there is at least one class below us: the animals. It could be worse, right?

But so much of what we attribute to animal behavior is mistaken. Most if not all animals, from the lowest to the highest, from the single-celled whatever to the lion, to us, observe one basic rule: eat. Eat to live. It's the first biological commandment. (The second is this: procreate. I've never heard a third. Have you?)

And most animals don't attack one another unless it's for a good reason, the same ones humans fight over: territory, territory, territory. (Like they say in real estate: location, location, location.) For the most part, animals are no more prone to violence than you or me. Like us they live their existences with the least amount of stress they can manage. They love peace, as we do. But lots of them can be much more effective at warding off predators than you or me. They live a much more dangerous life than we do and have to be ready to fight off strange creatures who mean to kill them and maybe eat their young.

Yes, some animals can be very scary and do from time to time attack humans, but statistically we are, for all intents and purposes, pretty much free from animal attacks (unless we put ourselves in their way). Even those wildest and most dangerous of animals only attack when they're hungry or challenged, not just because they feel like fighting. Only humans start bar brawls; animals never do.

But we don't just stereotype animals as far as their ferocity is concerned; we also refer to and label them in much more condescending ways. "Timid as a bunny," for instance. Yes, we all like to think of the baby bunny or the stuffed bunny as something to cuddle. But if you were a real bunny, born and raised on the prairie, where lots of bunnies grow up -- if they do -- you would live your life in terror, knowing that every time you went out that burrow entrance, you were in sunlight and constant sight of that hawk up there with his 20/forever vision: he's been watching you from a thousand feet for long enough to fix his focus. You'd be timid, too, I bet.

But here's the sad part: you wouldn't know the danger that awaited you. Oh, you'd have a built-in sense that you needed to be careful, but nothing in your genes would tell you to look up. The hawk strike would come, literally, out of the blue. You'd feel a big hit, then probably nothing as you were lifted, semi-conscious, into the sky by talons whose bite was just starting to hurt in your ribcage. Do animals know when they're dying?

We really don't know much about animals except through their behavior. We observe their migration patterns and mating rituals and family interactions and feeding habits and so on, but we have no idea what they're thinking. Or if they're thinking. They're processing information, for sure, or they wouldn't know how to navigate through the woods (or the earth or the water), so we shouldn't discount that as not important. After all, we can't do it. Right?

I think we should respect life at all its levels and stop categorizing animals as this or that. A pig only looks like it eats too much and sloppily. It eats as much as it's supposed to and with the eating parts it was given. You ever seen a hyena face-deep in an eland carcass? When it raises its head, all you see is red. I'll take a hog rooting around in the mud any time. Foxes are alleged to be smart (or sly or quick), but sometimes they're not. More than one has been run over by a car after moving into our neighborhood from the nearby foothills. And who knows if elephants really remember better than other animals? Have you seen a study lately? I haven't.

Let's decide to value animals and only use them in our language in ways that honor, not demean , them. "Fast as a cheetah" is good. "Slow as a turtle/tortoise" is questionable, as you're identifying this ancient and mysterious animal as just "slow." Do you know ANYTHING else about him? Likely not. (I don't either but should.) Many of them live longer than you or me.

See what I mean? Let's give animals their due. Some of them have been here long before we arrived and will likely be here long after we're gone (if we're not careful).

Is it possible to use animals for our selfish purposes -- including killing and eating them -- and still show them respect? I think primitive peoples have done it, including (from lore) American Indians, who held rites over slain animals, thanking them for giving up themselves (however reluctantly). We can probably do a quickie version of that every time we get a take-out order at KFC. But, in general, we can at least be aware of animals as fellow citizens of the earth and show them some respect, even as we kill and eat them.

Ain't it great to be the dominant species?