Odd thing: Many humans have pets of a certain species and then kill another species to feed that preferred species. This is called speciesism (it's a thing, one can search it). One matters more than the other. Because the one is used for a different form of human pleasure.
"Othering" is probably one of the basest of cognitive biases. Even animals have it. At some point we need to be able to selectively empathize in order to remain sane.
