While I certainly understand the priorities you've cited throughout this discussion, would you -- at the very least concur -- that this action to the ``chemically based brain and nervous system'' of the animal organism was perhaps somewhat unkind?
The Bible states outright that a wise man is kind to his animals. It’s a bit hard to be kind to a bunch of physico-chemical reactions. The Bible never calls for a wise man to be kind to a house or a tree or a stone or a pond.
It was immoral and a psychopathic act of cruelty, probably perpetrated by a future serial killer or at a minimum, a killer. What’s your point?