I don't think people necessarily extend more moralistic concern for people than they do for animals. Many would rather the japanese whaler dies than the whale he's hunting. How we feel about other people depends on many things, for example family relations, are they an "us" or "them", etc.
Also, you shouldn't think we're so different from animals. We're not, we're just smart. When they trained the gorilla Coco to use sign language, she was able to express a range of emotions that we typically think of as human such as love and jealousy. She also had memories of her parents getting killed by hunters. In short, we have a lot in common with other animals and there's no reason to think what motivates humans to action are not motivators in other mammals.
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