Just as we reject racism sexism ageism and heterosexism we reject speciesism. The species of a sentient being is no more reason to deny the protection of this basic right than race sex age or sexual orientation is a reason to deny membership in the human moral community to other humans.
The red carpet is kind of a surreal experience. There's nothing normal about it so for me the most important thing is to maintain some normality right until the point you get out of the car.