They do not appear to kill for pleasure; they don't torture, or lie; and they usually have their priorities straight. The instincts we share with them are as valid and worthwhile as any of our other abilities. The key is to use all of them wisely, and not to be used by them.
I have alot of respect for animals, but they are closer to human than many of us like to think; either people consider them sub-human and lacking any emotion or thought, or they consider them somehow 'pure' and untainted by thoughts of malice and such... both positions are false.
Take a look at a housecat, they can and WILL kill for pleasure, because it is a game to them. They're built to act that way, but they will think nothing of it to kill a bird or mouse or mole or whotever, simply because they can.
They will toy with it, injure it but not kill it immediately, toss it around and let it suffer for some time before death.
They are also fully capable of lying. Just because we don't speak the same language, doesn't mean that we don't communicate with our pets; they can, and do, understand us, and we, them. Where do yeu think the term "puppy dog eyes" comes from? When a puppy or kitten or whotever does something they KNEW was wrong, and then tries to act innocent, which is, by definition, lying.
Now, that being said, some animalistic traits we really should be considering emulating, as we are often lacking in many areas. We are not a specialist species... we're generalists that do a bit of everything. We're not the fastest, nor the strongest, and arguably we may not be the smartest XD
Whot we have going for us, is adaptability, and the ability to understand ourselves, and our environment, and change ourselves to fit that environment. Our strongest ability is to adapt, which includes emulation of someone else who is successful already, be it an individual, or a species.
As such, I apparently disagree with pretty much everything yeu said, though I didn't realize that until just now XD