Re: No we are not "animals"...
Human beings are classified within the animal kingdom through the Linnaean system of classification.
It is this system of classification that utilizes the categories of genus and species (among others) in which the name "Homo sapiens" is derived.
Unlike animals, Homo sapiens excercise free will and conscious thought through the souls and spirits that we are endowed with by our Divine Creator.
We may have physical bodies (i.e., "shells") that are in essence the bodies of animals...yet we also possess those innate added dimensions of spirituality, reason, culture, insight, creativity and other uniquely human characteristics that separate us from the beasts.
The reference comparing humans to animals only relates to the physical. The Linnaean system of classification is based upon the theories of Charles Darwin.
While I am not a knee-jerk evolutionist, I do believe that Creationism and the Theory of Evolution are NOT mutually exclusive. I beleive that the two ideas can dovetail together.
For more info about the Linnaean system of classification, go to:
http://anthro.palomar.edu/animal/animal_1.htm