It's a slippery slope. Unless you're going to go 100% vegan and not swat mosquitoes or take drugs to kill flu germs, you're making judgments every day as to how to deal with animals.

I think the important thing is to be conscious about your choices, to gather plenty of information and think clearly about what you're deciding. Humans must kill to live, even if it's just a carrot or a cauliflower; and many of us simply don't have the resources to live 100% cruelty-free. But you can take small steps when you find something that you can stick with, or even just indulge when you're feeling flush - avoiding buying from a specific Amish community that's known to run a puppy mill, buying free-range eggs, cutting down on meat - rather than bogging down in absolutes. Mahatma Gandhi said, "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."

Love, Columbine (who will be bringing steaks to two cookouts this weekend, but considers them a "special treat")