Suffering Half Dead Animals - What Is The Sikh Thing To Do?

[Kalsingh]

This has driven me insane. I have a cat that regularly catches mice in my garden and plays with them until they are dead. I try to save them when I can but you can't be there all the time and sometimes my cat puts them in such a state that the best thing to do is to let her finish the mouse off.

Occasionally she won't finish the mouse off and it will be left there half dead suffereing like crazy. I just found one now and its leg was broken and it was having spasms but on top of this it did not look like it was going to die soon. I hate to see them like that so I decided to finish it off myself. I covered it in tissue and picked up a heavy flower pot and stamped down on it. It was a very hard thing to do.

I checked to see and the poor creature was still alive (it was flatenned) but its legs were shaking. This made me cringe. So I just kept on slamming the pot many times. I looked to see and it had been killed this time but I had disfigured its face and there was blood everywhere.

I don't know if I did the right thing or not. I did a little prayer to ask god to take the mouse (soul) from its body to relieve it of pain (just in case it was still trapped inside and I hadn't finished it off properly).

I don't know what to do. Killing them like this is really really hard and inflicts more pain for a few moments if not done properly. Maybe I could have drowned it instead?

I know some people will say to let it die by itself (maybe it has to work off its karma) but how painful and miserable for the poor mouse would that be. Any suggestions for next time please would be appreciated. I hope that poor mouse has left its body and I hope I did the right thing.

[singher23]

Well, I don't know what the "Sikh" thing to do is, I would just do what feels right to you. I have done the same thing. If you're going to continue, 2 things - kill the animal all the way in one go, it's pretty bad if you leave it spasming. Just get a shovel and take its head off, or if you have branch trimmers (they look like giant scissors) you can use those. Yeah it sounds really bad but they get the job done, and they are much more preferable then slamming a pot on the mouse's head many times. 2nd thing is don't try to save the animal from the cat. That just makes it worse, and it's not for you to interfere with

[Kalsingh]

I know, I thought the pot was heavy enough that it would get the job done. When I saw the mouse still moving I had the most horrible feeling. I think next time I will leave the mouse or whatever alone completely. God can take care of it, if it is in that much pain and suffering, he'll sort it out right? I don't think I can bring myself to kill again, no matter the method.

[VanHelsingh]

Cats are sick creatures. They deliberately leave their prey hanging between life and death when they don't feel like eating it.

[Singh559]

Should put it out of its misery as easily as you can. Could have used a shovel or something like that.

[Kalsingh]

Cats are sick creatures. They deliberately leave their prey hanging between life and death when they don't feel like eating it.

Don't know about that. I mean, I doubt they deliberately do that. I feel that my cat (she never eats mice) sees mice as something to play with until they basically move no more i.e. are dead.

[VanHelsingh]

Don't know about that. I mean, I doubt they deliberately do that. I feel that my cat (she never eats mice) sees mice as something to play with until they basically move no more i.e. are dead.

I was possibly over-egging the 'sick' bit. :blush2: I guess it was a case of anthropomorphising, so apologies.

Anyone who has ever owned a cat that has access to the outdoors has witnessed the rather gruesome scene when their feline friend snares prey during an outdoor "hunting" excursion. (This is frequently followed by said feline friend bringing their catch indoors, to parade it around the house like a trophy for all to admire.) Mice are frequent victims, as are birds, rats, squirrels and (you may want to cover your eyes for this one) even the occasional rabbit. One of the things cats tend to do when they catch their prey is to do what seems like toying with the poor trapped creature. They'll cuff it with their paws, toss it in the air, and in general look like they're having a grand old time torturing the animal. In all, they can seem rather pitiless in their torment. But is something else at work?

It turns out that, while cats may seem cruel, capricious or malicious as they toy with a catch, their behavior isn't indicative of an evil mind lurking within the cute, furry exterior.

Cats, rather, wear down prey to avoid sustaining injuries. They're motivated by self-preservation, just like most other animals, and they know what could happen if they aren't careful. Mice and rats, for example, can deliver nasty bites that can cause injury or spread disease. Birds, for their part, are able to scratch and peck. So, what's a cat to do? Rather than playing with their prey for amusement, cats tire out their victims to the point where they're too worn down to fight back. And after that, the cats will feel better, and safer, about finishing them off, according to researcher Dennis C. Turner. So while it might look like a display of cruelty, a cat playing with its prey is just an (admittedly harsh) example of animal instinct in action.

[panther]

Kaljugi veer what exactly is anthropomorphising :stupidme:

[mrsingh12]

maybe a dumb suggestion but why not get rid of the cat?

[singher23]

maybe a dumb suggestion but why not get rid of the cat?

You've clearly never had a pet...at least not one that you've loved