personal a or no personal a

Question

Hi, in this exercise, Lola 'odia a los gatos' but I think that Danny "odia los perros", in Lola's translation.
Is there a difference in whether the personal 'a' is needed in each case? I weighed it up as - it is a definable person/pet? and I opted for 'not' using personal a because they hate dogs/cats in general. Hmm, but then again, they are sort of talking about their own pets?
Then there's the question of 'odiar' being clearly a strong feeling... but not exactly a strong affection.
Please help!

cheers,

Answer

Hola Flora,the rule for the use of the personal "a" when referring to animals in general says that it is a bit subjective, you would use the a if there is some kind of affection and you would most probably drop it if there is no affection. Bearing in mind this flexibility and this subjectivity I would say both are corrrect. However, to match both exercises (as they are using the same meaning in both of them, we will drop the "a" in both. I hope that helps.Gracias y saludos,Inma