What about a dog?
Despite the nickname "man's best friend", they are in fact pets, not friends.
At the same time a dog does not pretend to be a human, isn’t controlled by a corporation, and is a living thing with its own needs.
It also doesn't really have much choice in who it lives with.
Look, I have a pet cat. I love her very much. I'm pretty sure she loves me very much. I grew up with dogs, I loved them very much. I'm pretty sure they loved me very much.
So I get it. I'm not some militant anti-pet-owning person that thinks pet owning is akin to slavery or something
But it's also not a friendship. It's just not. They don't have a choice who brought them home.
We choose our friends, pets don't choose their owners. It's just not the same as friendship and I don't think it's good to treat it like it is
Many pets do have that choice; e.g. semi outdoor cats, non leashed dogs, etc. There are memes about cats choosing their owner too.