I don't think you are a bad person for doing this, but if it bothers you, you should look into in a little more thoroughly, because Vets have been know to give lots of wrong answers. Unfortunately I don't think there was any pain studies done on pinkie's. (I could be wrong..I'm wrong about a lot of things) My thoughts are this..they do research on mice looking for cures for humans. Why?? If a human's insides are different than a rats or a mouse, they why do they do research on them for cures for humans? If a premature human infant is known to feel pain, why not a premature mouse, being they experiment on them for our benefit. I personally think there are lots of different things out there that supply protein without watching my tortoise chewing on a tiny pinkie...Yuk! Not saying I'm right and you're wrong, just saying..Everyone is different. Just my 2 cents.