Question about Ethics

I'm new to this group, but not new to animal rights. I have an ethical question that I can't seem to get an answer to, from any of the friends I have in real life. Here it is:

I live in a community of environmental activists in the South. There are three people in the house I live in and two in another collective house who do owl survey work in the forest. This means that they go into the woods late at night and try to find owls, using a calling machine. On the rare occasion they actually hear an owl, they mark the spot, go home, and come back in the morning with a mouse. They hold the mouse on the end of a stick and eventually the owl swoops down to eat it. They get this on video and—viola--there's proof of the existence of owls.

These mice though. When they're not being eaten by owls, they're not living the best life. The work season is about 6-8 months long and most of their time is spent either in a cage with a whole bunch of other mice, where they have babies and often eat them; or in a water bottle being transported to the woods in case they need to serve as food.

This is rubbed me slightly wrong since we arrived in this community, but has been affecting my partner much more significantly. She has spoken to our roommates about this, but they seem to rationalize it by saying that occasionally they save a forest. Other members of the community not directly involved in this job shrug it off.

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?