Who or what

[Rachel Adams]

Is it wrong to say "Who is it?" when you are talking about an animal instead of "What is it"?

 

[emsr2d2]

Generally, no, not in a question. Not least because presumably, the aim of asking "What is it?" is to find out the species/breed of the animal in question. That wouldn't be a possible answer to "Who is it?"

Having said that, when I see someone out walking a cute puppy and they allow me to stop and pet it, I might say to the owner "And who is this?", to which the answer would be "This is Poppy. [She's a cockapoo and she's ten weeks old.]"

Edit: I'm sorry. I totally misread the question and thought it started with "Is it OK to ...". Consequently, my answer is totally misleading. This post should start: Generally, yes, it's wrong.

 

[teechar]

Is it wrong to say "Who is it?" when you are talking about an animal instead of "What is it"?

Yes, it is. Those are completely different questions, irrespective of whether you're asking about a person, animal or anything else.
The first is asking the listener to identify some entity; the second is asking the listener to describe it.