Did I make that unclear or did I misuse the word at any point? I think it's pretty clear that I understand the meaning.
Correct. I'm speaking in generalities. I made that pretty clear.
It cannot be innate because not everyone feels a connection with dogs? Bad logic is bad. Allow me to demonstrate by applying your logic to other scenarios.
Homosexuality cannot be innate because not everyone is gay.
Empathy towards other humans cannot be innate because some people are sociopaths.
Arms cannot be innate because some people are born without them.
See how ridiculous that is?
No, but again I'm speaking in generalities. If we know that someone was raised in an environment which encouraged a hatred of rats then their burning of a rat becomes less concerning. The same is true of someone raised in an environment which encouraged a hatred of dogs. If two people are raised to hate dogs and one is burning rats and the other dogs, then we might be more concerned about the one burning rats.
But if we're given the same two people and we know nothing of their environment, then we'll probably be more concerned about the one burning dogs.
You're living proof.
That's absurd. Do you feel empathy for a mosquito? There are generic levels of empathy that we can generalize for animals. That's real. It is not irrational. It is perfectly rational. Feelings, believe it or not, are quantifiable.