Well, I suppose I was saying 'animals' there when what I meant was 'magical creatures'. As far as I know, no magical creatures in HP canon do mate for life, but in fanon whichever magical creature is under the microscope at the moment always seems to.

But I wanted to use 'animals' because magical creatures are animals in many cases, though they may (or sometimes) have human intelligence. I chose the word to highlight/condense the heart of the problem: the alienation and dehumanisation which is an intrinsic part of these stories, even though in most cases the author's intent had more to do with exciting exoticism.