bob cunningham

In "Le Nozze di Figaro" I've come across the phrase "carità
pelosa". Translating word for word, this comes out "hairy
kindness".

Fortunately, my Cassells' Italian-English dictionary gives
the meaning "interested kindness" for "carità pelosa". Can
anyone tell me how this meaning evolved from the meaning of
"pelosa"?

I have two Italian-English dictionaries and neither of them
gives any other definition for "peloso" than "hairy,
hirsute, shaggy".

Cassells' also has the idiom "coscienza pelosa" meaning
"easy-going conscience".