Elaborate, please. Also, what about pigs?
It really requires you to define sentience.
If all you require for sentience is that something is able to
sense, then
every creature is sentient.
However, my definition (and most I have spoken with) requires consciousness. "Well then, what is consciousness?"
Consciousness involves internal examination, review and planning in contemplating past, present and future.
1. Does an organism have the ability to examine past behavior, the consequences of said behavior, and a 'what if' ability to try and see how different responses would have garnered different results?
2. Does an organism display the ability to override instinctual actions, such as the avoidance of pain, in order to satisfy a less immediately necessary goal?
3. Does an organism display the ability to critically plan for long term goals that aren't necessary for its own survival or betterment.
Admittedly, there are some humans that don't seem capable of 1, 2 or 3, but, as a species, we are able to do these things.
An animal will learn from past behavior and the resultant stimuli, but we don't see the sort of analysis of the past and the actions that would result from said analysis. Nor do most animals exhibit non-instinctual behavior (some examples of the behavior of dolphins and certain chimps/apes
may qualify them for this). I also haven't seen any sort of long-term goal setting and the execution of tasks to meet those goals in evidence in animals other than humans.
Now, what does this mean for your question?
Yes, a human is inherently more valuable than any animal. As such, no animal should have rights that trump a human's rights. Now, as part of building a sound society, we value that which makes our society thrive. That means we value children to carry on the society's traditions as well as provide a sense of continuity. This is above and beyond any emotional attachment we have to those children.
So, this means that we cannot kill children if we wish our society to thrive. Since animals are not the same as humans, it is OK to kill them. It is
NOT OK to kill human children. Individual animals are not needed for our society to thrive.
And truly reduce all this to be on point for your question: We makes the laws. So we matters more in our laws.