Nope, nothing wrong with being nice to animals. Only that it is a thing or a theme from OUR era. Not something that fits the era Star Wars is set in. From that point of view yes, it is political.

Once the USSR government made a El Quijote movie, refreshed with marxist themes. At some point it ceased to be El Quijote and was just an open alegory of those day’s debate. And then it just wasn’t a movie about a spanish hero anymore.

And you might ask me what era is star wars set in since it is basically escapism.

And that falls on everyone’s personal perspective. But as I said, to me SW is a fairy tale, a mostly traditional fairy tale. No one cared about animal’s rights back then.

It just felt off to me, just as the Ewoks, or the Opera scene in ROTS.