Animal Cruelty of the More Insidious Kind

Most people who have a sense of empathy are able to take care of animals wonderfully. Can empathy be taught???
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Those without empathy, however, should not be allowed to be caretakers.
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When I think of animal cruelty, I think of kids setting fire to cats and men beating dogs with sticks and pigs forced to live in tiny cells for breeding purposes. I tend to forget about the insidious cruelty that animals routinely go through at the hands of unempathetic owners. The kind that doesn't make the news.
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Outdoor dogs that get food and shelter, but no companionship. Dogs shut in a crate all day long because the caretakers are too busy with their own lives. Cats locked in the basement with no companionship or even a clean litter box. Bunnies bought for the kids because they are *oh so cute* but left in their cages because their needs are not properly understood.
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How do we get through to the people who bring animals into their lives, but don't actually understand that they are not stuffed animals? I don't know. Can empathy be taught? Especially when these people are adults - the ones who should be aware of these things? How do we get past a person's defenses and show them that these animals are worthy of our compassion? That even a fish has needs and desires?
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I find myself questioning these things because next week, I am driving an hour and a half away to try to take my mom's cat out of her house. I have explained to my mom over and over again that animals need companionship. Exercise. Clean areas to live in and eat in and go to the bathroom in. But something has been turned off in her brain. Or was never turned on. My sister went over to visit and found the cat shut in the basement, living in filth.
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My sister has offered to take her in, but I have no idea how my visit will go. My mother cannot accept the fact that she is not a suitable caretaker. She refuses to let anyone even suggest that she may not be perfect. But she can't be allowed to have this cat locked in her basement. It's cruel.
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How can people not understand compassion and empathy? They must be missing so much in life.