Hi Wizzo, interesting thread.
..With regards to 'Hate'being shown by animals.....One of my Welsh Cobs HATES any other horse that I give any attention to,some will say that it is jelousy,or insecurity, or survival,etc, but believe me when she turns her back on the other horse and attempts to give it both barrels and goes 'mental' it certainly LOOKS like HATE to me, but hate brought on by the aforesaid emotions/feelings.I suppose you could also say that she ifeels that she is feeling threatened. so we have a sequence...........1)the original act(by me in this case) 2) she feels threatened by what she sees because it makes her feel 3)insecure, (her survival is threatened)..........She then 4) attacks.... Now, as she has all these very valid reasons for feeling the need to drive away this threat to her survival I should not call it hate. I've read that all animal behavior is based on it's contribution to the survival of the species. Sorry I've gone on a bit, got carried away there.Do you agree with the survival (of the species) theory?