Your parents sure were thorough... The love people have for their animals can be very strong, and often that love is as deserving of sacrifice as a human interaction. I find it useful to stake extremes on an issue, just to ensure it is logically consistent, then it becomes a matter of degree, and not principle. For example, if it is a family member, one will go into a fire if one has enough courage before even considering an animal. If it is a family member and Saddam Hussein (I used him instead of Hitler to avoid invoking
Godwin's Law caught in a fire, most people would save their family member and let Saddam burn. Now if it my beloved cat or dog in the burning house, and Saddam...well...sorry Saddam. You are going to find out what your eternal home feels like in advance of actually arriving there. Bottom line, it is up to an individual to make that determination, because we cannot do it for him or her.