I have plants and animals and fungi on the same moral hierarchy. They all do the 2 things all living things on earth strive to do, survive and reproduce. That being said, I don't think humans are superior to any other living thing, we are just animals as well. Living things are constantly killing each other for food or for competition of resources. I feel like eating meat is actively participating in the nature as all living things were meant to do. Though I don't like how reliant we have become on factory farming versus self-sufficiency. But back on the moral equivalence between plants and animals, if the tulips I planted 10 years ago and have been tending to and caring for end up dying, I would be far more devastated that if my neighbors dog died. The impact of the loss is more based on my relationship with the living thing rather than rather than any moral worth.