Is it permissible to offer greetings of peace (salam) to a beautiful animal, such as a cat, a dog, or a bird, or to an inanimate object that a person has grown accustomed to passing by and feels a sense of familiarity towards?

Spreading Salām (greetings of peace) is among the manifest rituals of Islam and a cause of love between Muslims; by spreading Salām, one enters Paradise. As for extending Salām to animals or inanimate objects, it is closer to absurdity and tampering with the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and it is not permissible to allow it.