I fully understand your feelings, Eliza. They're lovely little creatures, and I am sorry to hurt them, but once they've decided to take up abode in one's house, they can cause a great deal of damage, and they reproduce like mad.

If you catch them live, you've got to take them a loong way off or they'll be back in a day or two. (I have caught some live and released them several miles away.) I've also had mice perish miserably from thirst/hunger inside live traps when I didn't find them soon enough! Not a nice death.

When I was faced with a major infestation, I decided that the logistics of live entrapment were just too much to deal with, and I turned to the old-fashioned traps.

Mice or rats make great pets, by the way, as long as they remain pets, and they don't become feral. They're intelligent, playful, and affectionate.