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.
Well, we didn’t see anybody whipping the Taun Tauns in ESB either. 😛