[oneofmanynameless]

Using intimidation to try to convince your dog to eat the food you laid out for it, or to convince it to go get your mail from the mail box or else, probably requires animal empathy.

Using intimidation to say, "I will hurt you if you don't back off or back down" I would argue doesn't require empathy of any kind, or understanding your targets motivations in any way, or even really the ability to speak, and is a pretty universal language.