The article presents human thought processes based on Polish and Russian phraseology with an animalistic component. Phrases with zoonyms horse, cow, pig, sheep, goat were taken into account, which refer to the lack of sufficient intellectual activity, lack of ability to remember, difficulties in acquiring knowledge and drawing logical conclusions. The article draws attention to the fact that the dominant feature of Polish and Russian animal phraseology is anthropocentrism, and the names of animals, used metaphorically in reference to people, most often evaluate fauna pejoratively. The presented considerations prove that the homo-animal opposition contained in Polish and Russian animalistic phraseologies is a manifestation of a clear sense of human superiority over the animal kingdom.