I wouldn't eat my cat or dog, but I sure as hell would eat other people's pets. This is just one of the funny arbitrary distinctions humans make that has zero rationality behind it. I mean lambs and veal are cute, but god damn, are they tasty.
Stop being hypocritical and just say that you don't like to harm cute things instead of claiming that some things are food and some are not as if there was any kind of logic behind it.
If you demand respect or gratitude for your volunteer work, you're doing volunteering wrong.