What is more important - preventing a cat from killing a pigeon or hurting a cat so it doesn’t hunt pigeon

In Jain Dharma, preventing violence is more important than causing new violence.

So, it is better to stop the cat from killing the pigeon without hurting the cat. Hurting the cat would also be himsa.

The Jain way is:

• protect the pigeon as much as possible
• do not injure the cat
• use non-violent methods like separation, distraction, or creating distance

If a choice must be made, Jain ethics always leans toward the least harm possible, with no intention to harm.