Interesting story sis alromissa You have touched on a very important topic. I would like also to add that Islam is empahsizing the importance of being merciful to all Allah's creations including animals.
The teachings of our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the Muslims also extended their care and protection to the animal world and he gave many examples to demonstrate that. Among these examples is that he stated that a person would go to hell for starving a cat to death, and another person who would be forgiven all sins for quenching the thirst of dog as it waited by a well.
There are other examples relating to plants, too. From the teachings of Islam, for instance, when a Muslim plants or sows something, that an animal or bird feeds itself from, this is a charity in the eyes of Allah.
Dear friends, although Islam might seem to you to be rigid and full of so many laws but at the same time you have to regard Islam as also a flexible but just religion.
For example, when someone is sick and cannot fast Ramadan, when fasting is one of the five pillars of islam, then he is no longer mandated to fast until he gets better. Also for us any good deed is multiplied by Allah Almighty till it becomes the equivalent of anywhere from ten up to seven hundred similar good deeds (sometimes more). On the other hand, an evil deed is either counted as a single evil deed or is forgiven by Allah.
Examples could go on and no but the main point here is try to look deep into Islam and its teachings before judging the
reglion.