I feel that there's a continuum, going from the simplest vegetable form right through to the most advanced animal (Me!). There's very little difference between the most complex plant and single celled animals such as amoebae.
Somewhere along that line there's a point beyond which we decide not to kill, but it's different for all of us. I will kill a tick to remove it from me or one of my animals but I don't kill leeches as they can easily be removed. It comes down to how much trouble we're prepared to go to in the name of compassion.
I had a massive tree fall across my driveway yesterday and, as it was riddled with termites, it would have been extremely difficult to cut it up without harming any of them so I compromised by killing as few as possible.
Bookmarks