What do vegans do when they get an insect or rodent infestation in their homes?

Being a vegan means you do what you can and all you can to minimise your contribution to animal suffering and exploitation; it doesn't mean you sacrifice your own health or safety - allowing animals to endanger your health and safety and that of your family, particularly your children, is not vegan it is irresponsible and stupid.

So it's essential, vegan or not, to rid your house of rodents and other pests if you have an infestation.

A cockroach infestation, for example, HAS to be dealt with by an exterminator. It's irresponsible to expose your family to the diseases they carry and spread, which include typhoid, dysentery, gastroenteritis and poliomyelitis. They don't come into a house singly - there's never just one or two - and they can't be persuaded to leave, and carrying them out one by one would be like trying to empty the ocean with a bucket.

Nor do rodents come in singly - and it's not true that they only come into dirty homes. Keeping your kitchen squeaky clean is one thing that can be done to discourage them, but they will come in out of the cold if they can and a mouse can get through any hole that is big enough for a ball point pen. Food left around isn't all they will feed on; they can get into kitchen cupboards and will eat things other than food. They like soap, for example; and be careful if you have one of those wheat filled pillows. So someone being smug and assuming they'll never get an infestation because their kitchen is clean is a bit blinkered.

Mice don't come into the house singly either - they move in en masse and breed very quickly, so catching them singly and putting them outside isn't really a practical option.

If taken outside they will soon find their way back in anyway. If caught humanely and set loose a long distance away, they will die as surely as if a snap trap had been set (only more slowly) - away from their family and their known sources of food, and a prey to predators.

There is no point in being sentimental about mice and rats - they are a huge health hazard and a danger when in your home. A danger because they need to gnaw constantly and will present a very real fire risk by gnawing on electric cables. A health risk because they spread disease - they are there for your food and will contaminate that; mice urinate and defecate constantly and that will be spread around wherever they go.

Yes, there are things you can do to try and prevent pests coming in. You can get a plug-in device that emits a noise inaudible to humans but intolerable to rodents and to other pests like cockroaches; make sure your kitchen is squeaky clean, with no food scraps or crumbs to tempt them in; and try to block up any holes or gaps where rodents might get in. They tend to stay away if you have a cat, too.

If having tried all the above you still get an infestation you have a responsibility to deal with it properly. Your health and safety and that of your family comes first.

I'm vegan and I would call in the exterminators if precautions failed - just as I would defend myself against any creature - animal or human - that was threatening my health, safety or life

Vegans react differently to this situation.

Most houses out here have a few mice or moles or ants. I don't mind them, it's a forest, it's what happens out here. But if it becomes a health issue, I think pests should be removed.

The BEST method to get rid of pests like mice or ants is to clean up. Keep food locked up, clean up after yourself, sweep the floor (most infestations can be helped this way) If that doesn't work, I would react by physically removing them, destroying their dwellings or by killing them as a last resort.

Pests that feed on humans, like ticks or bed bugs, must be killed. They're a public health hazard and could hurt me, my family/friends or my neighbors. I value animal life, but I value the lives of the animals that I know over the lives of animals that might cause their deaths.

I'd release the rodents outside and I've done so in the past.

I've barely had any though and there is pretty much no way for them to get inside my house except for windows (which have window screens now) and doors. It might be worse for other people and I'm not sure about what I'd do in that situation.

With insects...I release them currently if they bother me but if it'd be to such a ridiculous amount that it'd be almost impossible to cleanse the house of them otherwise, I'd kill them.

Not all vegans do the same thing.

Many would probably try to do what they could to avoid harming the invaders, by discouraging them or blocking their entrance points, by manually catching them and putting them outside, and sometimes learning to live with them. But if they persisted and were causing a health hazard or damaging property, it would regretfully become necessary to kill them.

Being vegan isn't about being perfect and never killing anything... if you drive, you have bugs hitting your windscreen. If you don't drive, the trucks bringing your vegan food will have bugs hitting THEIR windscreen... sensible vegans know they can't stop all suffering around them. They do their best. They avoid causing suffering and death wherever practicable, but sometimes even if you've done all you can, you have to kill to prevent you or your family risking sickness, or your house becoming unsafe to live in.

I am a vegan for health so I would kill insect.

Most vegans would fall into one of three categories:

- some would claim that their house is too pristine to attract pests

- some would claim to gently capture the pests individually and place them outside

- some would kill the pests, and then rationalize that it's ok for vegans to kill animals whenever it suits their needs, while criticizing non-vegetarians for killing animals when it suits THEIR needs

i give them a 24hr notice(seriously) and then spray and wish them better luck next time. rodents- i have no kill traps and release them outside usually around a dumpster.

Use methods to deter them.

I think they should live with them! After all it is unethical for them to kill any living creature!

I have no problem defending myself against animals that are attacking me or my property. There is a difference is defending yourself against another animal and exploiting them for their flesh and bodily fluids.