I love my cats more than I love many things in life, but if I could actually save a human instead, I would. I'd feel incredibly sorrowful about it for years, possibly forever, but I'd survive. I probably could never forgive myself if I chose cats over humans on purpose and knew that there was a big chance I could have saved the human instead.
See that's funny because for me it's the opposite. I know I would be more emotionally traumatised over the years about that poor innocent animal I didn't save if I chose the human stranger.
I just see it as just my own personal preference that I have no control over which I think is perfectly fine.
I do find it interesting how many people feel obligation towards other humans though! I read an article online about this exact topic and was quite surprised from reading comments that the general consensus is saving the human is seen as the
correct choice even from people that say they love animals and also say they generally like them more than other people.