I just wouldn?t use the word animal
http://theconversation.com/why-its-so-offensive-when-we-call-people-animals-76295?In this hierarchy humans have supposedly unique powers of reason and self control, whereas animals represent unrestrained instinct. To call someone an animal is therefore to demote them to a lower rung of existence, a more primitive state of being where they lack human virtues.
It would be comforting if dehumanising metaphors and hierarchical ideas about humans and animals were just historical curiosities. Regrettably there is ample evidence that they endure. People are surprisingly willing to rank some humans as less human, and more primitive, than others. Animal metaphors shine a revealing light on that beastly reality.?