This may seem an isolated, extreme case, but there have been other examples in the last few months of the same kind of assumptions being ground to pieces under the wheels of logic and ingenuity.
If we ignore or discount their interests simply on the ground that they are not members of our species, the logic of our position is similar to that of the most blatant racists of sexists - those who think that to be white, or male, is to be inherently superior in moral status, irrespective of other characteristics or qualities.