If you had taken note of the size of the universe, there is plenty of space for anything to have existed on this planet to be in another place.
If you don't believe in religion that's fine, but why ridicule those that do, who knows you maybe wrong.
Fish have 91% of our DNA, so I would suggest the 1% is very important. As for animals, we have to eat something, and pets are something we like. Maybe a heaven if you believe in that would include animals.