The clue is in the question, which is humans need to invent gods, whereas animals do not.

we live, we procreate, we die, end of story

Most of the big religions were made up long ago in very different times when animals were considered mere things to be used - few people seem to have had any idea that animals have any sort of consciousness or ability to feel emotion or pain.

There were some exceptions, of course: Mohammad really liked cats; some of the Eastern religions including branches of Hinduism and Buddhism encourage adherents to follow a vegetarian diet and show respect to all living things, as does Jainism; shechita, the Jewish laws governing the slaughter of animals for kosher meat, demands that the person carrying out the slaughter is highly trained and that the animal loses consciousness as rapidly as possible; Saints Francis of Assisi and Radegund were the animal rights activists of their times.

Good question.
I am a cat lover and have always thought if there was a heaven, I want to go where there are dog, cat and other animals. I know a whole of people that are not near as smart or as good as some of the animals I have known.