In Jainism, karma binds to the jiva not only for grand plans or deliberate misdeeds, but for the inner mental modifications (vasanas) that accompany any action. Even in animals, actions arise from the jiva’s inner tendencies—ignorance, attachment, fear, aggression, instinct, etc. Those subtle mental impulses are what attract and bind karma.

Key points:

• The animal’s behavior may appear purely reflexive, but it is still rooted in the jiva’s inner dispositions. If aversion, desire, or anger accompanies a response, that mental state binds karma.
• Karma can bind through the vrittis (mental fluctuations) that precede or accompany action. Reflexive acts often still arise from these underlying tendencies, so they are not free of karmic result.
• The difference is in intensity and complexity: humans typically have stronger, more elaborate mental fluctuations, so karma accrues more per action; animals have milder and simpler tendencies, so the karmic consequences are correspondingly subtler and often manifest differently in their rebirths.

Different Jain traditions (Digambar vs. Śvetāmbara) discuss details of consciousness and intention, but both affirm that even animal actions, when driven by inner passions or ignorance, bind karma to the jiva.

If you’d like, I can summarize a canonical sutra or stotra that discusses how karma binds and how it relates to living beings across species.