Most people tend to feel more accountable for harmful actions than for equally or even more harmful omissions. Some may even believe they bear no moral responsibility for failing to help at all. These attitudes reflect omission bias.
Omission bias can influence how we view negligence, particularly in cases involving harm from natural processes, since such harms continue without any direct action from us.
I think many people also tend to have “do no harm” focused ethics, so when someone from their group (i.e. humanity) harms others (i.e. animals), we feel much more of a responsibility to stop them from causing harm than we do to get them to do good.
I think many people also tend to have “do no harm” focused ethics, so when someone from their group (i.e. humanity) harms others (i.e. animals), we feel much more of a responsibility to stop them from causing harm than we do to get them to do good.