I don’t really think we’re at total odds here, the original deal was about the term used. And yes people can sometimes go too far anthropomorphosizing animals because they aren’t people. But being spirit created beings that, like us, never were intended to die, and capable of relationships, some more complex than others, you have no proof and offered none that ALL their behaviors are simply programmed and instinctual. The bible doesn’t even say that.
Nor does the bible say that orange juice is packed with Vitamin C...we're left to infer and discover certain things about creation on our own...and the accumulation, transference and ability to validate information are among those uniquely human characteristics. The bible does say that man was given dominion over the animals, suggesting that we are on a separate plane of existence from them, and arguably over them. Now some on this thread have implied that some people have used that as an excuse for mistreating animals. I would argue that it gives humans a certain God-directed responsibility for and to them, and it's one that is best filled and carried out by carefully observing and recognizing the distinctions between humans and animals, and not blurring them.
I'm reluctant to continue to refer to dogs, as we're discussing the animal world in general, but it's the example I'm best able to speak to. I would aver that my relationships I've had with dogs have been very special, unique, and rewarding precisely because I related to them as dogs, and not tried to ascribe human qualities to them. God gave us a limited ability to try and empathize with other creatures and see the world through their eyes...I doubt my dog has the capacity, desire or certainly the notion of empathy to want to see the world through mine. Ergo, the onus in any human-animal relationship is on the human in satisfying God's larger design for those relationships whether they are symbiotic(i.e. dogs), agricultural (i.e. cattle) or adversarial (i.e. malarial mosquitoes).
To think that God placed any responsibility on the animals in any of those relationships entirely contradicts the biblical notion that God gave man dominion over the beasts.