Surely sentience is a philosophical concept, I am sceptical that science can be applied as directly as you suggest.
I agree that human characteristics are sometimes falsely assigned to animals. But that doesn't mean that human characteristics can only ever exist in humans. If a crow exhibits theory of mind, it just suggests that humans are not as unusual as previously thought. It does not mean that we are assigning the full philosophical implications of human sentience to that animal. In fact science could not possibly do that and still be science.
I agree that human characteristics are sometimes falsely assigned to animals. But that doesn't mean that human characteristics can only ever exist in humans. If a crow exhibits theory of mind, it just suggests that humans are not as unusual as previously thought. It does not mean that we are assigning the full philosophical implications of human sentience to that animal. In fact science could not possibly do that and still be science.