Started a flame war on hip_domestics.
You all know I have a mouse eroblem in my apartmenbt.
Just because I think it's less cruel to kill a mouse quickly by hand than to:
1) let it die a slow death from poison
2) catch it and "release it humanely" in an unfamiliar environment where it doesn't know how to get around or find food. House mice and field mice are DIFFERENT SPECIES! A grey urban-adapted mouse will stick out like a sore thumb in a field.
3) Get a cat. Mousie still dead, possibly slowly if the cat is not an experienced hunter. Plus, BAD for wendy-allergies.
4) snap traps, which often leave them horribly injured.
I also do my best to keep them out of my home, blocking up holes and gaps as soon as I discover them. No, I am not eating them, but I am protecting my food supply. I also refuse to deal death second-hand. Letting them die slowly, as long as it is out of my sight - I think that's a cop-out. I am willing to live with the immediate and squicky consequences of my actions.
Is it a "good" choice? No.
Have I weighed the options, and dome my best to take actions consistent with my ethics and beliefs? Yes
Is it a "less bad" choice? - I think so.
At some time, the "them or me" decision must be made. This is the one I have made. I know this is not for everyone, but I have thought about this a lot and I have come to terms with it. Those who don't agree with just have to not agree.
You all know I have a mouse eroblem in my apartmenbt.
Just because I think it's less cruel to kill a mouse quickly by hand than to:
1) let it die a slow death from poison
2) catch it and "release it humanely" in an unfamiliar environment where it doesn't know how to get around or find food. House mice and field mice are DIFFERENT SPECIES! A grey urban-adapted mouse will stick out like a sore thumb in a field.
3) Get a cat. Mousie still dead, possibly slowly if the cat is not an experienced hunter. Plus, BAD for wendy-allergies.
4) snap traps, which often leave them horribly injured.
I also do my best to keep them out of my home, blocking up holes and gaps as soon as I discover them. No, I am not eating them, but I am protecting my food supply. I also refuse to deal death second-hand. Letting them die slowly, as long as it is out of my sight - I think that's a cop-out. I am willing to live with the immediate and squicky consequences of my actions.
Is it a "good" choice? No.
Have I weighed the options, and dome my best to take actions consistent with my ethics and beliefs? Yes
Is it a "less bad" choice? - I think so.
At some time, the "them or me" decision must be made. This is the one I have made. I know this is not for everyone, but I have thought about this a lot and I have come to terms with it. Those who don't agree with just have to not agree.