Little Fuzzy — H. Beam Piper

Zarathustra was a Class-III uninhabited planet, and the chartered Zarathustra Company owned it lock, stock, and barrel. They developed it, exploited it, and reaped huge profits without any interference from the Colonial Government.
 
But then, out of nowhere, came Jack Holloway -- with a family of Fuzzies and a great deal of evidence that they were more than just cute little animals. If the Fuzzies were a race of intelligent beings, then Zarathustra would automatically become a Class-IV inhabited planet, and the Company's charter and privileges would be over. The chartered Zarathustra Company wasn't going to allow that to happen...