Despite the exhortation to get back to the original question, I feel I must comment further on the subject of whether animals are more intelligent than humans. I said in my first post in this thread that when it comes to measuring intelligence you have to decide what it is that you are going to measure and if you do that your definition of intelligence becomes circular: it is what you have decided to measure. Despite that, I think we can sensibly talk about what the word "intelligence" means. Here is one dictionary definition: capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc.
If we take the young lady who succeeded in getting pregnant three times and compare her to the most intelligent chimpanzee we can ask:
Does her capacity for learning exceed that of the chimpanzee?
Does her capacity for reasoning exceed that of the chimpanzee?
Does her capacity for understanding exceed that of the chimpanzee?
And so on, I think we have to answer: "Yes."
Now a definition of "common sense": sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like.
If we ask whether the young lady has common sense, we may be forgiven for saying that she does not.
If we are using intelligence in the sense defined above I think it is perfectly legitimate to compare the intelligence of one species with another if every species displays the intelligence it has. We can say that chimpanzees are more intelligent than lemurs and that lemurs are more intelligent than geckos. Saying that one species is more intelligent than another says nothing other than that one species is more intelligent than another. It says nothing about whether any species is more deserving of respect any more than saying that one species can move quicker than another.
But let's get back to humans. I do not believe that possessing high intelligence makes a human more worthy of respect than another. Accordingly, when I read statements such as:
“I reckon that there are chimpanzees with more potential than some burkes I have had to work with over the years”
“Don't tell me that woman is more intelligent than any of the very intelligent dogs I've owned. She is not.”
I take them to be an affront to the dignity and humanity of the people to whom they refer. Being of a generous disposition, I will allow that people who make such statements may not have taken the opportunity to think through exactly what it is that they have said.