I would save my cat before a distant cousin I met like four times in my life, absolutely.

>> pets are members of people's families!

> If you could only rescue one member from some kind of deadly emergency and they had equal chances, would you prioritize the pet over a human member of your family?

If you could only rescue one family member from some kind of deadly emergency and they had equal chances, would you prioritize a stranger over a member of your family?

Legal/social consequences weight into your question.

A more straightforward angle could be money spent: would someone spend more for the wellbeing of their pet than for a family member (elderlies included).